In 2007, the American Oxford Dictionary recognized the locavore as the word of the year. Literally, the expression can be translated as "local". The explanatory dictionary would have given such an explanation: a locator is a person who basically eats only local products, and grown organic, that is, as natural as possible, methods. It all started with a fun experiment: Canadian journalists Alice Smith and JB McKinon tried to eat only one "summer fodder" one summer: they looked for mushrooms, made wine from apples and rosehips, caught trout. Returning to Vancouver, they tried to verify on personal experience whether it is possible to eat the same way in a metropolis? Attempts to find out the origin of the products gave shocking results. It turns out that fruits and vegetables, which are quite usual for northern Canada, are mainly imported, and hundreds of liters of gasoline are needed to deliver them. That's when the idea of a "one hundred-mile diet" was born: Alice and JB decided to eat for a year only what grows and is produced within a radius of 100 miles from their house. This proved to be a difficult test: I had to re-examine my diet and look for products that corresponded to the idea. Journalists searched for culinary books compiled and released before the Second World War, traveled around the neighborhood in search of farmers who did not work according to the rules of large corporations. And the "one hundred-mile diet" from the quest with prescribed rules has turned into a life philosophy, which thousands of people on the planet enjoy with pleasure.
One could call the local food organic products opponents of globalization, advocating a return to the system of life of ancestors. But this is not entirely true. Adherents of a hundred-mile diet really differ from those who prefer to live in a world in which boundaries are blurred, distances do not matter, and national clothes are replaced by models of mass brands. But they, too, make their contribution to globalization: people unite against the all-planet problem - ecological catastrophe. Recyclable plastics, non-waste production, agriculture without pesticides and products without preservatives are all links of the same chain. And the locavore fits into the eco-management as a completely viable trend, because it is based on the popular concept of sustainable, unshakable. In architecture, this word defines houses that can generate energy and collect rainwater for sanitary purposes. In the context of "patronage", inviolability is the revival of small-scale farms and the restoration of traditional food chains. And as a consequence - the stability of small ecosystems that can save the Earth for future generations.
At the same time, the question arises: is not it too radically local? After all, new converts will have to give up such habitual drinks as, for example, coffee or orange juice. Experience shows: if you really want, everything will turn out. For example, in the territory of the industrial city of Google in Silicon Valley there are 11 catering establishments. In one of them - Cafe 150 - serves dishes prepared only from local products. "Unlike regular chefs who serve the same dishes day after day (they know exactly what and how much the supplier will bring them), I work with pre-industrial methods," says Nathan Keller, a cafe chef, "so my menu the cafe is changing every day - it all depends on what I will buy in the market in the morning. " However, the cook confirms: Cafe 150 was lucky with the location - in Central California, many farms, where you can buy seasonal seafood. In another place, such an approach would be difficult to implement. For the same reason, the TV host of the culinary show and actress Dasha Malakhova refused the "organic" concept for the restaurant, which she plans to open in Kiev: "We heard that Europe is going crazy in organic terms, but we do not understand what it is. After all, "home" is not at all equal to "organic", and apples bought from a ruddy grandmother may well have been sprayed with poisonous chemicals, which is unacceptable for bio-products. " And, apparently, it is on the opportunity to communicate, expand the circle of acquaintances and like-minded people not in the virtual world of the Internet and e-mail, but live locates the popularity of the locavore. Because the trust and awareness that this particular purchase and this particular carrot can make a certain person's life better is more important than solving global environmental problems.