You’ve switched to fluorescent bulbs, the laundry is hanging out to dry and you’re trying hard not to visit the gas pump so often. So what else can you do to help save the planet?

Watch what you eat.

It turns out the food we choose can have a surprising impact on climate change and the environment, according to a growing number of studies around the world.

We already know that eating organic can help reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Now the hot eco-food trend is eating local, as in meats and vegetables produced within 100 miles of your kitchen.

The food we eat these days typically travels hundreds or thousands of miles before we pick it up at the supermarket. Some fruits and vegetables have come as far as 4,000 miles on ships, trains and trucks. That adds up to a lot of carbon dioxide pollution just to fill the fridge.

So-called localvores say there are other benefits to local fare, too.

They don’t have to worry so much about contaminated food from factory farms or oversees processors. Their money supports the local economy. They are helping to keep family farms on the Maine landscape. And it tastes better.

The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association has been doing its part to make the connection between diet and climate and even hopes to get school children eating local. It’s holding a workshop for school food service workers around the state Thursday, and serving up Aroostook Wheat Berry Fruit Salad, Maine Mashed Potatoes and Maine Apple Gingerbread. MOFGA’s Web site can help you find locally produced organic food.

Maine’s Department of Agriculture, another advocate of eating local to support the state’s farms, is working on a different population segment. The department’s Maine Senior FarmShare program offers low-income seniors free locally grown produce each week for 10 weeks from local farms. (There are still shares available for the rest of this growing season. Look here or call 1-877-353-3771 for more information.)

Eating local is popular in Europe, where some are even pushing for “food miles labeling” to tell shoppers just how far their meals have traveled. That could help consumers choose low-mileage groceries the way they choose energy-efficient appliances.

It may not always that simple, however.

A New Zealand study recently showed that miles traveled is one consideration, but is not necessarily the best way to choose a climate-friendly meal. Sometimes food can be produced more efficiently far away.

A lamb raised in a New Zealand pasture and shipped to England, for example, contributes less carbon dioxide than a British lamb that’s raised partly on feed, according to the study. Look here for a BBC article on the issue.

And there are other ways to eat green.

Giving up meat, for one, may be better for the climate than buying a hybrid car. A United Nations report says livestock production – when you count everything from feed to deforestation – contributes more to global warming than all transportation worldwide.

So maybe it’s not as simple as changing a lightbulb. But who can argue against stopping at a Maine farm market in August?

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