The roosters had been with us since early June, part of an order of chicks shipped from Webster, Iowa. My order was for "mixed heavy breeds," and that meant the luck of the draw in sex _ roughly half roosters, half hens. From the get-go, the roosters were destined for the freezer. It was those egg-layers that we’d be keeping, with perhaps one rooster to entertain them.

In recent weeks, the young roosters would start crowing at 5:30 a.m. It was a shout-down in which, like teenage boys, each tried to out-crow the others. That cacophony was a jarring way to wake, and it erupted repeatedly during the day. So I drove the cock-a-doodlers over the hills to KNK Poultry in Edmeston. I hung around town for a few hours, visiting with old friends. Then I picked up my birds, nicely wrapped and packed in ice, and drove them back to Fly Creek.

They’re now sharing quarters in the freezer with two lambs and with half of Sir Francis Bacon, part of a pig cartel based this summer up on the Pullyblanks’ farm. (The pig should rightly have been named Dame Frances Bacon, but that would have wrecked the allusion.) Also in there are dozens of freezer bags full of stock that Anne carefully made from meat scraps and bones. That stock will enrich soups and stews across the whole winter.

A second freezer holds part of the bounty from Anne’s mammoth garden. About every familiar vegetable is in there, with some exotics that will add variety to winter dishes. One side of that freezer is packed with bags of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and rhubarb. And down in our root cellar are potatoes, onions, and squash galore. Among the squash are three huge Hubbards that look like props from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." Oh, and the kitchen shelves glint with jars of beets, sauerkraut, pickles, and jams.

It’s a comfort to head into winter with so much food preserved, all of it free of hormones and pesticides. And all of it stands for great savings in fuel, not only our own gasoline, but fuel used to shift food products around the globe. For none of our stored stuff was hauled to us across thousands of miles in trucks or, worse, flown across oceans to us. All of it was raised and harvested right here, right in Fly Creek.

I’m not trying to hold Anne and me up smugly as models for everyone. We’re retired, after all, and have acreage enough to raise much of what we eat. But we all live in the midst of farmland here; and even if we don’t raise food ourselves, we can draw on the bounty produced all around us. All the roadside stands and our wonderful Farmers’ Market are piled with foodstuffs that, with little effort and some real enjoyment, any of us can preserve for our later use.

And we should. Like it or not, we’re coming to accept a future different from the recent past; a future that will find us even more uneasy about foods brought from afar, genetically altered, adulterated. And in that future, food from afar is also going to be steadily more expensive, following the predictable skyrocketing of shipping costs. Just as fuel costs will eventually curtail our regularly hopping a plane to visit relatives in California, they’ll also make us think twice about buying asparagus or watermelon flown in from Chile or the Far East.

We’re going to find ourselves eating much more regionally, much more seasonally.

The idea of focusing our buying on regional products is, I think, already beginning to catch on around here, and retailers are joining in the movement. This week I watched a long Garelick semi pull out of the Great American lot. I was cheered by the slogan emblazoned across its side: "FROM LOCAL FARMS TO LOCAL FAMILIES." Garelick’s dairy products all originate in New England and our own state, and that’s where it distributes them, too. Good for Garelick, and good for us. And thanks, Great American, for retailing regional goods.

Let me suggest a ride south down 28 to visit to the cheese store north of Milford. You’ve been noticing it as you drive by; now it’s time to stop in. Almost all the cheeses they sell are made in that building or within 50 miles of our homes; and their breads, crackers, honey, syrup, and preserves are all New York State products, too.

And while you’re out visiting, don’t miss Cooperstown Natural Foods on Linden Avenue. Ask owner Ellen Poulette to give you a quick list of the healthy regional foods she stocks. I bet you’ll be surprised.

Area restaurants are also beginning to feature local products, too, even basing their menus, month by month, on what is available locally. The Rose and Thistle in Cherry Valley is leading the way, but others are beginning to follow suit.

There are lots of good reasons for buying locally and for freezing some of our bounty for future use. The reasons run from helping an ailing planet, to boosting the local economy, to protecting the health of our loved ones and ourselves.

No, you don’t have to raise roosters, or even a garden. But you can shop for the regional; you can buy the seasonal. Do so, please. It’s good for all of us.

Read about Jim Atwell’s new book, "From Fly Creek _ Celebrating Life in Leatherstocking Country" at JimAtwell.com.