Small footprint, sustainable, local food is the latest trend.  Chefs, grocers, farmers and consumers are jumping on the bandwagon.

The 'eat local' trend isn't without challenges.  Local growers at farmers' markets have to compete with cheap produce from California's monoculture farms and not all consumers understand the benefits of choosing local food.  One example of the challenges facing sustainable food is the story of Tim Wood, a chef in Edmonton, Alberta who has been working on establishing his own landmark EcoFarm.

From the Vancouver Sun:

It's not easy. Nobody knows that better than Tim's wife, Deborah Wood. At the moment, the dream is stalled.

"It's a non-traditional project, so traditional banks won't help," she says, regarding the cash they need to move into the next stage -- a straw bale building for the cafe.

"Even for our farm environmental plan, it took two years to get permission from the county. We want to prove that a local community can be self-supporting, with employment, with sustainable food systems, with healthy lifestyles."

» The Vancouver Sun