What's fresh for dinner?

It seems like I can't pick up a newspaper or magazine without hearing about yet another community promoting an "eat local" campaign. There's even a new name for people who promote eating locally-grown foods: localvores.

If this interests you, check out this cool website: http://www.nrdc.org/health/foodmiles/ from the Natural Resources Defense Council. You can enter your state and time of year, and it tells what types of local foods are fresh and available.

I just tried this for Vermont in late May, and found that I should be able to purchase artichokes, asparagus, and rhubarb. OK, asparagus and rhubarb are understandable, but artichokes? According to Wikipedia, artichokes are a perennial thistle (that sounds tasty!) found in the Mediterranean. They've been exported to California, which produces almost 100% of the artichokes grown in the US.

There's no mention of Vermont-grown artichokes here, so I emailed the website. I'll post their response.

The good news is that in early June I should be able to find strawberries, greens, potatoes, and boysenberries as well as asparagus, rhubarb, and those elusive artichokes.

Check out the website and find out what's fresh in your area.