Local
Living in RI means access to some of the greatest native food: oysters, quahogs, lobsters, cheese, milk, heirloom tomatoes, apples, pumpkins and so on. Buying your food locally is good for your local economy, good for family farmers, good for your health, and good for the environment. Eating food that is fresh and food that is native allows you taste food the way nature intended, without additives, without processing and without packaging. It allows parents to set their children on a path to healthy choices that not only sustain them but the world they enjoy.

As mainstream interest in "green" food has grown, so has the proliferation and profiteering of big business. It is causing significant confusion among consumers between green and organic. It's important to remember, as more and mass retailers carry and private label their own organic foods and goods, the greenness needle drops. Their products and manufacturing systems do not include management practices that are selected with intent to maintain ecological harmony; to transport products with localization or reduction of fossil fuel usage in mind; and they certainly don't care about supporting and sustaining local growers.

Local does not mean organic, but what it does mean is that it was manufactured, grown or produced in your indigenous region. For Green Life Smart Life, building products and services that are local means within a 500-mile radius.

As you start thinking about ways to green your life, consider starting locally. You will be helping sustain your environment and your community.