Frito-Lay aims to jump on the local food band wagon by launching a new Lays marketing campaign that highlights the “local” farmers who grow potatoes for their chips, and I say shove them off.  I don’t care how well you can track your bag of chips, junk food produced thousands of miles away does not fall under the category of local or sustainable.  Eating locally means actually coming into contact with the people who grow your food, farmers who respect the planet, and don’t ship their food long distances.

And while Lay’s deserves some credit for keeping their ingredient list simple, making an effort to be more environmentally responsible, it’s ridiculous for them to posture themselves as “local” heroes.  They have no connection to the communities their chips inhabit (even if a long time ago they did), and are merely confusing people about what eating locally really means.  I’ve heard of green-washing before, but local washing?!  Tell me your thoughts in the comments section below.

Photo: Leeks ‘N’ Bounds flickr photostream (creative commons)