Unfortunately, in Northern New Mexico at this time of year, there's little but greens and food stored over the winter to choose from if one is strictly adhering to the philosophy of local and seasonal foods.

There are foodsheds — regions, akin to watersheds, within which food flows from farm to table — aplenty in this world where there is great variety in the spring, but these places all have mild winters and early springs.

The project allows Allen to define her local "foodshed" that is, the area in which food can be obtained and still be considered local.

After consulting experts at the Great Basin Community Food Co-op in Reno, Allen determined her foodshed to be the region encompassed within a 150-mile radius of Reno. Because Northern Nevada's climate is so arid, Allen's foodshed is larger than, say, that of someone in Berkeley living near California's agricultural belt.

Even within such an expansive foodshed, Allen said, being a locavore requires careful shopping and menu planning, flexibility ("you can't get locally produced sugar, so I use honey in my coffee now"), an inclination to eat seasonally ("no tomatoes or butter lettuce in the winter"), and a willingness to "distill down" the daily diet to essential foods.

Bioneer farmers like Fred Kirschenman are working to create bioregional "foodsheds," encouraging local farmers to increase their crop diversity.