(photo by David Ellis, courtesy of morguefile.com)

An E. coli outbreak is linked to bagged spinach and two E. coli outbreaks are linked to lettuce. Salmonella poisonings get linked to peanut butter. Melamine-laced protein ingredients from China are tied to widespread pet deaths, while tainted ingredients get fed to hogs. Then an E. coli outbreak triggers a massive beef recall. That’s a pretty scary sequence of events and all of them occurred in just 10 months.

The Sacrament Bee reports that those recent food scares have given many consumers a hunger for locally produced food. According to the Bee's article, "…many farmers and producers who sell directly to local customers" are seeing a jump in business as "more and more people -- motivated by food safety scares, environmental concerns and a desire for deeper connections to those who grow their foods -- are choosing locally grown items for their tables."

The article cautioned that eating locally produced foods may not always be the best choice for the environment. A recent research study concluded that Swedish tomatoes grown in a greenhouse and sold locally put more climate-altering gases into the air than tomatoes grown outdoors in Spain that were shipped to Sweden.

If you'd like to read the Sacramento Bee article cited above go to: Nourished nearby
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