In our culture it can be all too easy to insulate ourselves from the world we live in.

We roll the windows up in our air-conditioned cars and plug in our iPods to tune out our coworkers. We race from home to work to meetings to grocery stores, with such velocity that the sights and settings can blur until we nearly forget where we’ve been or where we’re going.

So recently, when the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services challenged all Virginians to Eat Local for a Day, and when the Goochland-based Center for Rural Culture suggested we keep going beyond the initial deadline, this seemed to be a pretty daunting endeavor.

Stopping by the grocery store after a day in the office doesn’t take much thought.

But figuring out where and when to buy local produce and products appears, on the surface, to be pretty labor-intensive.

Until you consider the world we’re creating, and the one we’re losing, by not making the effort to be a part of the process.

Many of our most vibrant communities, including this one, are enhanced by the landscapes, the traditions and the crafts that can’t be found anywhere else. If the people who live here stop investing in local farmers and artisans, and instead invest resources solely in chain stores and mass-produced goods, then eventually our unique culture is destined to fade away.

The Eat Local campaign points out the economic advantages of spending our money where we live. Eating locally grown and produced food is environmentally friendly, since less gas is required to haul a harvest through town than it is to ship it across the country. And fresh, just-off-the vine fruits and vegetables are undeniably healthier than produce that’s been sitting around for a while.

Eating, and living, local is a good ideal. And even if we can’t achieve this goal every day, even if we wander to the farmers market this Saturday morning and buy just enough zucchini to compliment that night’s meal, well we’re still making a difference.

Taking a minute to appreciate the bounty within our county lines, to meet our neighbors and ask where our food is grown, is a simple step toward sustaining the community we share.