At the Jackson Green Actions event last Friday, one of the speakers was Ted Wells, owner of Alpenglow Farms in Victor, Idaho. Ted talked about eating tomatoes from his greenhouse in mid-January and distributing fresh cut flowers to local merchants. Ted's talk got me thinking about the carbon impact of the food we eat here in Jackson Hole.

For years, my wife and I have talked about buying a share in Cosmic Apple Gardens or Blue Flax Farm, but we've resisted because we didn't think we would like the selection, nor did we think we could consume even 1/2 share on a weekly basis. Given our carbon neutral pledge, however, buying a share in a local Community Supported Agriculture endeavor is just not an option this year; we'll just have to explore and enjoy the many ways to prepare early-season kale while we await the really good stuff.

And long Saturday morning bike rides will have to wait until I've made a quick pass of the Farmer's Market down at  Town Square as well.

In the meantime, we'll begin to pick and choose what we eat a little more carefully; considering where the food came from and how it got here. We love sushi, but the carbon costs of transporting fresh fish into the valley are hard to justify on a regular basis. Buying carbon offsets for flying fish is a possibility, but that seems as ludicrous as buying a Terrapass for a Hummer.

Clearly, this is one of those issues I'm going to have to explore further. Stay tuned.

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