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Travel Away: Travelling Sustainably - Local Culture & Food

1. Respect Local Cultures
   One of the joys of travel is to get to know other lands, cultures and people. You can maximize this by staying in locally-owned accommodations, choosing local guides, eating locally grown food, and respecting local customs and traditions
   See the Transition Abroad Responsible Travel Handbook
   
   
2. Buy from Local Artisans
   Support the local culture by purchasing hand-crafted artwork directly from the artisans. Often the cheapest souvenirs are mass-produced or machine-made (sometimes in far-away China), and do not support local artisans, and they are very generic keepsakes as opposed to enduring conversation-worthy memorabilia of your travels.
   
   
3. Eat Local Foods
   Patronize restaurants and shops offering fresh local grown food, and local beverages (enjoy the local beers, wines, and fruit juices) to experience the authentic local flavors and dishes.
   
   
4. Choose Organic Coffee
   Choose organic coffees both at home and when you travel. This helps reduce pesticide use through eco-friendly farming methods which also use less fossil energy than conventional crops. Fair Trade coffees also ensure that the growers and their workers are paid fairly for their coffee, and not negotiated down to levels that only support subsistence living and subsistence farming.
   
   
5. Order Ocean Friendly Seafood
   Eat those fish and shellfish that are abundant locally and responsibly managed to protect fragile species fro over-harvesting. See the Blue Ocean Institute's Guide to Ocean Friendly Seafood. Some fishing techniques (dredging and bottom trawling) are bad for the environment, and some fish may only be available seasonally in some areas (and need to be expensively flown in to provide a year-round supply).