Or, why sustainable, organic, local farming is not only good for you but good for the world.  David Pimentel, professor of ecology and agricultural sciences at Cornell, says that transitioning to organic, local farming would cut energy inputs into the food system by 50%.  Currently, food grown in the U.S. depends heavily on the use of fossil fuels.  Pimental says, "United States agriculture is driven almost entirely by these non-renewable energy sources. Each person in the country on a per capita consumption basis requires approximately 2,000 liters per year in oil equivalents to supply his/her total food, which accounts for about 19 percent of the total national energy use."

So, it sounds to me like transitioning to sustainable farming would prevent almost 10% of our current national carbon emissions.  The other part of the equation is what that transition does to conserve soil and water and reduce the use of pesticides and antibiotics.  Although the dangers of climate change have been widely discussed, we are not nearly as familiar with the dangers of soil erosion and degradation.  There are a set of practices that sustainable farmers have known about for literally thousands of years, including crop rotations, cover crops, water diversion ditches, terracing, no-till and other reduced tillage systems, surface mulches, contour planting, building up soil organic matter, organic agriculture techniques, and combinations of these.  Once we choose or are forced by the high cost of fossil fuels to make use of these practices as a means of transitioning to sustainable, organic, local farming, we will also be saving our soil, water and the range of animals that live in and on our waterways.

So why not jump before we are pushed?  Better all the way around.