Even though Decatur scores only an 80 out of 100 on WalkScore.com (and that’s if you live at the very center of town – my house gets a 60), Decatur recently was singled out in a recent Marketbreak article about the website that evaluates how walkable your neighborhood/address is based on the proximity of necessary stores/activities.

“While acknowledging that people probably won’t want to give up their cars completely, Goldberg said it’s quite possible that neighborhoods that allow residents to be less car-dependent will become the new norm for many Americans in the coming years.

“We’re not talking about everybody moving downtown,” Goldberg said, adding that even in cities that aren’t very walkable there are neighborhoods that are friendlier to pedestrians.

Atlanta, for instance, has a reputation for being “the poster child of sprawl,” he said. However, there are places nearby, like Decatur, Ga., that offer amenities and transit options without being a high-density neighborhood, he said.”

As to why Decatur doesn’t score higher on the list…I’m gonna go out on a limb and say it has a lot to do with the lack of a real downtown grocery (and hardware store). We can have the Kroger debate again if anyone wants, but I can’t tell you how many times I hear unprompted comments from residents about the need for a downtown grocery.

And I, for one, am beginning to think we should stop begging TJ’s to show up, take the matter into our own hands, and look into starting a community-owned co-op. It a HUGE undertaking I know…especially for a bunch of hyperactives with no free time, but at its most functional, a co-op could cater to this community like no chain grocery store ever could.

At a minimum, I think its worth investigating and then maybe eventually even doing a feasibility study.

What do you think? Pie in the sky?

Locavores and slow food proponents will really get a kick out of Watershed chef Scott Peacock’s write up about growing up with field peas in his native Alabama in this morning’s AJC.

Thanks to books like Pollen’s Omnivore’s Dilemma and Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, along with recent extensive coverage by the NY Times, the local/slow food movement has really taken off in the past year or so. It goes a step further than just simply eating “organic”, which some strict locavores will tell you has been co-oped by the “industrial food chain” (another basic principal of the movement), and encourages people to buy locally (to reduce the food’s carbon footprint and support the local economy) and eat “real food”…(as opposed to anything processed…80% of which is made mainly of corn and soybeans).

Pollen’s follow up to The Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food, sums up the diet of a locavore this way “Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.”

If it sounds like I’ve signed on to this latest “fad”, I have. It ain’t an easy way to eat, especially for those of us stretched to find the time to dedicate to finding and cooking food, but its the first book I’ve read about “food” in a long time that made any sense and didn’t come off like it had an ulterior motive.

Essentially, it boils down to…eat real food, not processed. That means eating a little meat that eats grass preferably (not force-fed corn), and lots of plants (fruits/veggies), preferably organic and local. Not easy…but it tastes so much better…and is so much healthier.

Locally, the Decatur Organic Farmer’s Market is a great resource to grab these products. Also the DeKalb Farmer’s Market has grass-fed beef and sells a lot of organic produce (and is very good about telling you where it came from).

But still, I gotta tell you, even for a Decatur resident with two great resources, it ain’t all that easy. Any locavores out there with any additional tips?