Many processed and packaged foods travel about 1,500 miles before making it to the table. They travel by train, plane, and truck just to get to your dinner table. These methods of transportation release tons of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. So why not eat locally? Does the food taste better once it has traveled hundreds of miles? I don't think so. By buying locally and eating home grown foods you can cut down on carbon emissions and support local business. At my house we grow tomatoes, oranges, apples, peppers, and squash and I honestly think my home grown food tastes better than most of the food that we buy at the grocery store. It takes a lot of work to keep up the garden and make sure that animals do not eat the food before we can, but it is so worth it. When I eat the food from my garden I experience the pleasure of sweet and ripe fruits and veggies and the satisfaction of cutting down on my carbon emissions.

Wow Marissa!  I think that it is great that you have such an abundant garden with such a large variety.  At my house, we grow strawberries, zucchini, basil, tomatoes, and corn but I wish we had apple and oranges like you do.  Furthermore, I like how you pointed out the importance of buying locally.  Not only does it support local companies and business, but it also (as you stated) decreases carbon emissions.  Personally, I find it harder to convince myself to buy locally grown food at farmer's market because I know I can get them cheaper at a grocery store.  Although I am aware of the carbon emissions being invested in the transportation of produce, I find myself buying more product from grocery stores rather than a farmer's market on Sundays. I also agree how having your own garden provides a sense of gratification as you are eating something grown in your very own backyard!  Every time my family has pesto pasta, we always comment on how our basil from our garden  makes better pesto than restaurants throughout the Bay Area.  (Of course we are bias, but we do have confidence in our pesto making abilities.)

That is awesome Marissa! I also have a garden in my backyard. We grow tomatoes, green peppers, onion, and cucumbers. I think the food we grow taste WAY better than the store bought food because it tastes natural to me. The produce in certain stores has a plastic taste and sometimes the food just doesn't look right. I love eating locally grown food become yes Grace it does support local companies and businesses. It is so worth having a garden because we don't have to run to the store if we forget a tomato, all we have to do is walk to our backyard and pick, wash and eat.

Marissa, I agree with you as well. The amount of carbon emissions will go down, but by restricting people to only buying locally grown food could lead to several other problems. Some country's are economically dependent on selling their food to other countries and some people are dependent on foods from other country's. Having everything home grown, and right there in your yard would be ideal, but for a majority of people, that might not be the best solution.
   BUT, if we WERE able to have everyone eat and buy all their food locally it would solve many problems too! People would be driving less an we wouldn't need to have food coming from thousands of miles away, and like you said it would taste a million times better if it were home grown. The percentage of carbon emissions in the world would definitely decrease dramatically.But in the end, in my opinion, this solution for lowering carbon emissions would not work.