locally grown foods taste like they should!

Today I was reminded of the gift of fresh food. On my way back from an audition in L.A. traffic today, I just had to eat something. I was in bumper to bumper traffic on La Cienega blvd, and the only place that dotted almost every other block was Starbucks. I stopped for some roasted cashews, and went on my way. They seriously tasted like bland salty cardboard. God knows how old they were, completely devoid of their vitality. I started thinking about the miles these cashews probably traveled, the amount of fuel that it took to get them to Starbucks' all over America, and it solidified my desire for all foods local. The larger supermarkets that most of us shop at, provide us with a meal in which our food has traveled 1,500 miles or more! At a weekly play date this morning at the park, other moms and I were talking about how nice it would be to have a vegetable garden, how economical, how fresh, and convenient. Our local farmers market only has a couple of organic stands (certified and non-certified), and although Southern California grown, still not that local. My rooftop garden in currently in progress...
We are lucky to be able to share in the abundance of delicious foods all over the world, but I think we sometimes our need for the exotic makes us take for granted the energy it takes to have, say, strawberries in winter, mango and pineapple, and of course many other foods that travel miles from all over the globe. Obviously it may be very difficult to eat entirely locally, depending on your lifestyle and where you live, but if you can't grow your own food, it is easy enough to look out for the labels at the supermarket-supporting our local farmers, and eating foods that keep us in harmony with the earth around us. Please feel free to comment on any other input, statistics, or thoughts you have about this topic!