Locavore Culture

While listening for perhaps the 117th time to Michael Pollan talk (this time--and for about half the recorded listenings--on NPR), I got to talking with my wife about the possibilities of locavore culture. I'd just been to see Ladette Randolph read at a local bookstore, and we'd been putting plans together with friends for the First Friday Art Walk and (guilty pleasure and people-watching opportunity) Rib Fest. It struck me that local culture and community are as important as local foods. In the Great Metropolitan Centers, the possibilities are orders of magnitude greater, but who knows what potentials your neighbors are hiding. Will I avoid going to speakers and cultural events that aren't local? No. But one nice thing about a university town is that my neighbors will show up to these events, and we'll keep the insights--like dollars--in the community. All this thinking about what a town or city or magalopolis might offer sent me further, too, into thinking about the distinction between quality of life versus standard of living.

So what does your community have to offer? What keeps you engaged as a locavore of culture? And will your quality of life survive if you lose a bit of standard of living--maybe if you switch from a car to a bike (I had to circle back to Pollan somehow)?