2007 New Oxford American Dictionary Word of the Year

NEW YORK, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Are you passing up
store-bought bananas for apples from the farmers' market? Can you shake<>the
hand that picked your carrots? If you're concerned with how far food
travels before it gets to your plate, you just may be a "locavore," the New
Oxford American Dictionary's 2007 Word of the Year. The past year saw the
popularization of a trend in using locally grown ingredients, taking
advantage of seasonally available foodstuffs that can be bought and
prepared without the need for extra preservatives.

The "locavore" movement encourages consumers to buy from farmers'
markets or even to grow or pick their own food, arguing that fresh, local
products are more nutritious and taste better. Locavores also shun
supermarket offerings as an environmentally friendly measure, since
shipping food over long distances often requires more fuel for
transportation.

"The word 'locavore' shows how food-lovers can enjoy what they eat
while still appreciating the impact they have on the environment," said Ben
Zimmer, editor for American dictionaries at Oxford University Press. "It's
significant in that it brings together eating and ecology in a new way."

"Locavore" was coined two years ago by a group of four women in San
Francisco who proposed that local residents should try to eat only food
grown or produced within a 100-mile radius. Other regional movements have
emerged since then, though some groups refer to themselves as "localvores"
rather than "locavores." However it's spelled, it's a word to watch.