Fruit is the best example of what environmentalists, economists and foodies discuss-buying and eating locally and seasonally. You get the best food at the right time of the year from local soil, which not only decreases carbon emissions (no flying fruit from Chile), but also gets you the best price while supporting local farmers and growers. In the last year, grocery stores have now begun labeling their produce and meats with "locally grown/raised.'' Get to know it!

I remember when I was little, the sight of the watermelon truck (probably the advent of today's fruit cart) on Lenox Avenue meant summer was here. The mounds of the variegated green pods with one cracked open to witness that sueculent blush-colored flesh and black seeds (seedless watermelon didn't exist on the truck). I don't know where that truck came from every year, but it lived "on the ave" during the summer.

So get out there and eat fruit while you can...or try drinking it. During my postcollege years, we would inject a watermelon with vodka to serve at parties. Today, it's the watermelon martini.

The mounds of the variegated green pods with one cracked open to witness that sueculent blush-colored flesh and black seeds (seedless watermelon didn't exist on the truck).