The average North American meal travels 2,400 kilometres to get from field to plate and contains ingredients from five countries in addition to Canada - a trend that is fast making food the most polluting form of transportation.
The Squamish Climate Action Network (CAN) food group aims to decrease Sea to Sky residents' contribution to the problem with their most recent project - developing and distributing a regional seasonal foods chart.
"This calendar does two things," said project organizer Krystle tenBrink.
"It promotes growing your own food by telling people what to grow and when, and if that's not possible it shows you when produce is harvested so you can purchase in season at the farmers' market or your grocery store.
"If you can't do one, hopefully you can do the other - the less travel for the food the better."
The chart lists more than 70 vegetables, fruits and herbs and shows when they're harvested, how they're harvested and how difficult each one is to harvest.
TenBrink said the chart caters specifically to the region and is possible thanks to a $20,000 in 2010 from Vancouver Coastal Health.
"With some of the funding we budgeted to make 10,000 Sea to Sky seasonal food brochures and our hope is to create a project that the region would benefit from," said tenBrink.
"Although we're in different climates from Squamish to Pemberton, it's all pretty relative and what we're ultimately wanting to do is get people thinking consciously about how far their food travels, get them engaged and try to make it convenient for them to grow at home."
TenBrink said growing your own food isn't necessarily reserved for those with massive yards or farms.
"It may be a few herbs on your balcony, maybe some hanging strawberries in your condo, maybe it's a big garden on an acre of land," she suggested. "We really just want to engage the local communities to do what they can at home and realize that once you set it up, the cost difference can be a lot cheaper.
"It does just take a little bit more time and effort but you can set yourself up for success."
According to Get Local B.C., in the past 20 years in North America, the import and export of food has tripled, with agriculture and food now accounting for more than a quarter of the goods transported on our roads and making food the largest component of air freight.
The seasonal calendars will be available at all three farmers' markets - Squamish Farmers' Market, Whistler Farmers' Market and Produced in Pemberton - over the summer.
"We're really trying to encourage people to buy direct from the farm so farmer's markets are the best way to do that,' said tenBrink. "The calendars will be available at all the markets and in some of the local shops who sell local food."
TenBrink said there's an opportunity for every home in the corridor to make a difference, big or small, by choosing to buy or grow locally "and that does help out in the grand scheme of things."
"There's so many different levels of local," said tenBrink. "If you want an apple there's a few different questions you can ask yourself: Do I have one in my backyard? Does my neighbour have one? Is there something I can trade with them for it? Does my local farmers' market sell apples? Does my local grocery store sell apples and are they from B.C.?"
She said once a mental shift is made, a change is already imminent.
"There's a series of steps you can go through to make the right decision," said tenBrink. "Ultimately you want that apple but how far is it going to travel to get to you?"
