What Constitutes Local Food?

In other words, if you live in Florida and you're eating Lay's Potato Chips made from Florida-grown potatoes, are you still a locavore?

This New York Times article tackles that very topic. In a world where marketing is everything, the folks at Frito-Lay are doing their best to cash in on a craze birthed by writers like Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver. Dave Skena, the VP of potato chip marketing at Frito-Lay, even declares of his company's latest ad campaign, “This is celebrating the notion of community."

Whatever.

It pisses me off, and I'm not even a real locavore. I'd die without bananas, year-round spinach, or blueberries for my cereal, come wintertime. But I am aware, with every penny I spend, whose pocket it's going into, and what effect it has on my local community. Sure, I do more than my share of shopping at Kroger and Target. I also switch to local purveyors as soon as they have enough bounty to sell. I buy from local farmers because I'm selfish -- the food I get is gonna taste much better than anything that's been shipped cross-country. Come over for dinner tomorrow, and you'll understand exactly what I mean.