Grow your own

While your neighbors might prefer to look out on a fertilized, dandelion-free lawn, there's no doubt that growing vegetables in your yard makes good eco-sense. The debate about whether economies of scale beat local food distribution methods becomes moot when the produce at your table used absolutely zero fuel to get from your garden to your kitchen.

Front-yard farmers are taking a bite out of global warming by planting oxygen-generating, vegetable-producing green plants on their property in both cities and suburban areas. While planting melons, tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant and peppers in front of your house might not yield the 6000-pound harvests that the Dervaes family produces on their 1/10-acre urban lot in Pasadena, CA, it can go a long way toward cutting your own carbon footprint, and slash your grocery bill at the same time.

For those who wonder if it really matters if they grow their own, when the scope of the global warming problem is so huge and developing countries are starting to emit faster than we are cutting down, sustainable food author Michael Pollan has an answer: It does matter. In addition to policy changes in government and industry, it will take changes in personal behavior to turn things around. He points out that consumer spending represents 70 percent of our economy, and so in the end, it really is all about us.

However long the growing season is where you live, you can supplement your food supply with healthy foods that are usually much more delicious than store-bought by growing them at home. Even apartment dwellers can grow lettuces and herbs in window boxes. By updating the World War II-era concept of victory gardens, urban and suburban residents can make a big difference, and enjoy the fruits of their labor in ways they may never have imagined.

LifeWire provides original and syndicated content to web publishers. Jay Weinstein, a chef trained at the Culinary Institute of America, is a New York based food writer, editor, and cookbook author. His food articles and recipes have been featured in The New York Times, Travel & Leisure, Newsday, Time Out New York, National Geographic Traveler, and numerous other publications. His latest book, The Ethical Gourmet, focuses on ecologically sustainable fine foods. He's currently working on a book about sustainable use of water.