...although I think this was the most important part of it:

""The local food movement did not develop because of concerns about climate and greenhouse gas emissions," Morris said...It developed because people don't trust multinational companies," he said. "They have a desire to know the supplier [of their food]...The whole idea behind locavores is to try to create a market behind people farming the way we prefer and a distribution system for small-scale farms," Van Wing said."

That's why I try to eat local--to support a local and (in my mind) more sustainable food economy that doesn't shut out the small farmer. Plus it's fresher and more nutrient rich.