LOCAL ICE CREAM

Sundae Best

If 10,000 LA Biters eat a pint of ice cream prepared with local ingredients rather than nonlocal ones, in a week we'll conserve enough diesel to fill a little more than two kiddie pools.

Wanna dress up your frozen dessert? Carmela Ice Cream fashions its so-this-season flavors with organic ingredients like fruits, herbs, and edible flowers from local farmers markets and SoCal cream. These icy infusions - like the Dark Chocolate Cacao Nib (made with 99% CA-made Scharffen Berger chocolate) and the Lemon Basil Sorbet - skip the chems found in conventional ice creams that can cause tummy, um, issues or allergic reactions. Plus, Carmela's biodegradable, Bagasse sugarcane containers also help skirt the 15 million tons of polystyrene tossed into landfills every year. Hallelujah.

Buying food that's grown near you helps small family farms stay in business, and eliminates the need for long-distance farm-to-spoon shipping.

We never considered black pepper and balsamic vinegar sweet-tooth territory until we snagged Carmela's Spiced Strawberry Sorbet.

Carmela Ice Cream, available at Locali Conscious Convenience and select farmers markets (323-319-6084). Dark Chocolate Cacao Nib ice cream, $9/pint; single serving, $3/4 ounces.

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