Food...

Happy Earth Day! Here are five ways that you can celebrate a delicious Earth Day, go local, and give back:

1. Reduce your Carbon Food-print. Visit www.EatLowCarbon.org to calculate the total (estimated) carbon emissions produced by your breakfast, lunch, or dinner. You may be surprised at what you find. For example, cereal and milk produces 1224 carbon dioxide equivalents (the amount of global warming from carbon dioxide, methane, and other gases), almost as much as an omelet with meat and cheese. FYI: the most carbon-friendly breakfast options are yogurt with fruit (306) and a fried egg (336).

2. Gear up for the first farmer’s market. Around the country, farmer’s markets are getting ready to start the summer season. Find one near you by visiting the River Wired homepage and entering your zipcode into our Local Harvest search. Then, learn how to tackle weekly local shopping at Busy Cooks at About.com. My favorite tip: ask questions, both to learn more about where your food comes from and to figure out how to use vegetables you’ve never cooked with before.

3. Update your recipe file. Find out what’s in season near you at Food Miles application from the Natural Defense Fund. Then, search one of the great food recipe sites: The Food Network, All Recipes, or Epicurious to find recipes that are just as in season. In Michigan, asparagus and broccoli are both in season, which means that this week I’ll be whipping up a chicken, asparagus, and broccoli stir fry.

4. Help solve the food crisis. Donate to the World Food Program.

5. Visit a local restaurant. Whenever I have to choose between a national chain and a local restaurant, I choose the local one, no matter what’s on the menu. Especially in Michigan, where the economy has been on the downturn for years, investing in local food, restaurants, and businesses can produce huge payoffs. As Frank Turner, a local Detroit chef, once told me, “if we all spent $10 a week on Michigan products, agriculture or otherwise, we could put $36 million every week back into the state’s economy.”

Photo Credit: An image of where the farms are around the U.S. from Local Harvest.