Eating Locally

I have always been one who cares about the environment. I am not an environmentalist by any means, but I do what I can to "go green". That being said, I have always thought it was best to eat locally. That is until I read the article in our "Globalization" book. This article really opened my eyes. It made me realize that eating local isn't always best. Sometimes the farming practices of local farmers are more harmful to the environment than other farms. Also by not eating locally we help the economies of poorer countries that produce certain foods. Also by driving to buy locally grown food we are using more gas than we would just to drive to the nearest supermarket. On the other hand though, there are still some benefits to eating locally. More often than not local foods are safer. The majority of local farmers use less chemicals on their produce. Also eating local can help your local economy. With these tough economic times that sounds like a pretty good idea. So what's my point? I guess I don't really have one. I think this is a really sticky situation. How are we supposed to know which option is really the best choice? I guess its a personal decision. Which benefits are most important to you. For me, I am still undecided, but I am glad that we read this article, because it opened my eyes to another side of this issue that I haven't contemplated before.