it's hard in winter
15 months ago
even our fortnightly fruit and veg box from the organic shop isn’t doing well with it – all the food in there is from Oz/NZ.. so good to know it’s not just me.
How to eat more local food
It made me
Yum! 
"I estimate that over half my food is now purchased from local farmers."
How I did it: For produce, a local CSA (at least during the season). For animal products, I get beef, lamb, and pork from a local sustainable farmer who pasture raises his animals. Most dairy is from Organic Valley, who utilize local pasture raised animals. I also choose locally grown/produced bread, beer, cheese, etc., as often as possible.
Resources: Source for locally grown/produced food: http://www.localharvest.org/
Reading: The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, Real Food by Nina Planck
People doing this are also doing these things:
Entries
entropic ankh uses this site as evidence she is alive.
intimidating
16 months ago
I’ve been kind of intimidated by the madhouse feel of the local farmers market. I finally went with my husband this weekend and got some beef franks for lunches. I really hope to make it more of a habit!
lots to think about
16 months ago
I have just finished reading “The 100 Mile Diet” by Alissa Smith & JB MacKinnon, and it was so interesting.
While eating local may not be the answer to everything (yes, it may be closer, but costwise it may not be sensible as just one fact) it raises the point that we really have become so far removed from our food. Not just physically – but on so many levels. I have no idea where my food comes from – whether in Australia or overseas. I have no idea how many pesticides it has been sprayed with, or how old it is!
Over the last 2 months my flatmate and I have been getting an Organic Fruit & Veg box deliverd (by The Organic Grocer) and the quality is amazing. See? Fruit really isn’t meant to go off and soggy within 2 days of purchase!! haha..
So while I am not sure how things will go with this goal, i am interested in just finding out where my food comes from. How far it travels. Where it originates from.
It will be interesting : )
Fun posts:
Organic news and small family farms
entropic ankh uses this site as evidence she is alive.
summer season
19 months ago
i know of two local farmers markets, but the hours make them difficult to get to. since I’m a teacher, I’ll have a lot more flexible time in the summer to get to the markets.
mmmmm
2 years ago
made persimmon bread tonight using the persimmons from my mom’s tree. deeelish, kind of like a cross between banana bread and zucchini bread (both of which I grew up on in the 70’s and still enjoy).
OK, so these were not exactly local persimmons, since they came home with me on the airplane, but grown by someone I love which is just as good.
it’s all about changing my/our relationship with food – So that instead of food being something that comes out of a package, I/we really get that it comes from the earth and from people’s labor and animals’ bodies.
god that’s kinda graphic, huh?
I'm inspired by Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
2 years ago
That’s the new book by Barbara Kingsolver and her family. They took the local challenge for a whole year, growing and raising most of their own food.
Well, I live in a city so I’m not about to become a farmer. But I’m going to try and use everything in my CSA box instead of letting the odd stuff get brown in the bottom of the fridge. And I want to pay more attention to where the stuff I buy is from. I don’t want “oily food” that’s used gallons of petroleum to get to my plate….even if it’s organic.
PS my CSA is http://www.eatwell.com/ Silly name, but a great farm!
Flooding
2 years ago
Our coop was sponsoring an “Eat Local” challenge, but they had to cancel it when many of their suppliers lost crops due to flooding. Looks like we won’t be eating local for a while.
On a positive note, our new place has a large garden plot we are welcome to use. Just imagine, the whole thing planted with kale! Think how much we’d save at the coop! That would be great. I am a little intimidated about how much work a more complicated garden would be… but I think I could handle kale.
