Eating Locally, Becoming a Locavore

The idea of the 100 Mile Diet was first conceived by Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The idea was to eat food from within 100 miles from their home and to do this for one year. As they recorded this journey in their blog it became noticed by the media and the idea began to spread.

With the price of gas these days, the idea of eating locally becomes even more appealing. When we learn that each ingredient in an average North American meal has traveled about 1500 miles, we can get an idea of how much gas is involved there.

Barbara Kingsolver and her family moved from Tucson to Virginia to try local eating for one year. They wanted to obtain all their food as much as possible in their own neighborhood. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is her book about that experience.

As Barbara Kingsolver says, there is something to be said for knowing the provenance of your food. Who grew it? Were any pesticides used? How far has it traveled to market? When you buy locally you can sometimes get to know the grower and you can have these questions answered.

Find your own 100 miles radius, learn 13 reasons to eat locally and find out how to get started by clicking this link:
www.100milediet.org

I live in the midst of farm country in Whatcom County, Washington. This is a center for the production of agricultural products, much of it organic. This county produces 65% of the nation's raspberry crop, is second in the state in strawberry production and 15th in the nation in dairy.

When I started to list the amount of locally grown products within about ten miles of me I was amazed! I realize if you live in the city you might not have all of this available to you but perhaps you can search out some farmer's markets or some mom and pop type stores that sell locally grown organic products. Making inquiries at a health food store might be a good place to start.

Within a 10 mile radius we have:

A huge produce stand with locally grown fruits, veggies and organic milk

Grass fed beef you can buy at the farm

A potato farm: sells 50 pound bags, cheap, great quality

A dairy with a store where you can buy milk, cheese, eggs, and ice cream all locally produced

Two dairy farms that make cheese, one organic

A goat dairy: raw organic goat's milk and soap products

Many berry farms and roadside stands: raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, Some have veggies too such as corn, squash, tomatoes etc.

Pick your own berry farms

Roadside stand selling local honey

Roadside stand that sells Bell peppers very cheap with great quality

Several apple orchards that also have pears, pumpkins, organic cider, honey, organic peanut butter and organic gouda cheese to go with the apples. Yum!

A farm next to one of the apple orchards that sells organic duck eggs

Cherries from a roadside stand in season. The best!

There is a fish place near the water that sells fresh fish and dungeness crab.

A winery that grows its own raspberries to make its award winning raspberry wine

Hazelnuts from a local farm

There are many nearby farms that sell corn in the fall at 10 ears for a dollar. The corn might be piled in a wheelbarrow or on a table and you choose your 10 ears, put your dollar in a box and leave without ever seeing the farmer. People still do business on the honor system here.

Title: Farm Fresh Carrots
Artist: David Carter Brown
Type: Art Print
Size: 12 x 12 in
Our Price: $9.99
Buy at AllPosters.com

Framed   Mounted



Webmasters Make $$$

Locavore Tote Bag Do you eat locally? Are you a locavore? These sturdy canvas bags are great for grocery shopping.
$19.99

Product Information
Our 100% cotton canvas tote bags have plenty of room to carry everything you need when you are on the go. They include a bottom gusset and extra long handles for easy carrying.

See all of my merchandise and apparel available in many themes!

Title: Fresh Peaches
Artist: David Carter Brown
Type: Art Print
Size: 12 x 12 in
Our Price: $9.99
Buy at AllPosters.com

Framed   Mounted


Webmasters Make $$$

For us to travel 100 miles to gather food would be counterproductive as we have so much available to us closer to home. I think we can do reasonably well at this within a 10 mile radius. At the grocery store we can buy chicken grown in our state. It may not be from within a hundred miles but it might be a concession we would make in order to have chicken.

Lots of people have gardens here as well, or they grow produce in pots on the deck or patio. I have several tomato and bell pepper plants growing on my deck now and we are hoping for a great harvest with enough to trade with others. Maybe this year I will learn how to preserve my harvest by canning or freezing.

We have plums, peaches, cherries, blueberries and rhubarb. The plum tree is particularly prolific and I make plum jam and give lots of plums away. I get about 2 pies a year from my lone rhubarb plant. I should have planted more!

Some of my friends have chickens. If you have the space and the inclination, this is a great option for fresh eggs. Even in town it is possible to have a small coop and a few chickens.

So if someone was interested in doing the same kind of experiment that Barbara Kingsolver's family chronicled in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, this area would be a fantastic place to do it. We are blessed with a lot of resources here.

Title: Sweet Peppers
Artist: David Carter Brown
Type: Art Print
Size: 12 x 12 in
Our Price: $9.99
Buy at AllPosters.com

Framed   Mounted



Webmasters Make $$$

Each family will have to decide if this is something they can do and how far they will take it. It may be unrealistic for everyone to eat exclusively within a hundred mile radius. We like bananas and we use coconut oil and neither of those items are local. I'm not sure we want to give those up.

We can, however, grow our own tomatoes and peppers. We can visit the local produce stands and local dairies. We can eat local fish and seafood and grass fed beef. We can pay more attention to where our food is coming from and make conscious choices about it.

We may not be able to do it perfectly but it is a goal worth pursuing.

Given the rising prices of food, we decided to plant a container garden on our deck. We have several tomato plants, carrots, cauliflower, bell peppers, red leaf lettuce, chard, spinach, zucchini and patty pan squash. We've already had several salads from the greens. Can't get any more local than that!

We're hoping to have enough tomatoes to can this summer. That will be a learning experience for me.

This year our peach and cherry trees did not do well. The plum tree gave us lots of plums and I made lots of yummy plum jam. I got three pies out of my rhubarb plant this year! The blueberries did well too.

My container garden is a bit of a disappointment. The zucchini and patty pan squash did not produce nearly as much as I thought they would. I think I had them too crowded in their pots. I'll keep that in mind for next year.

My spinach was great while it lasted but it went to seed fairly early. Swiss chard is still going strong in mid-September. Cauliflower was a complete failure. The bugs liked it and then it got moldy. I have tons of great carrots, some of which I used in a pot roast yesterday.

Tomatoes have done fairly well. My two cherry tomato plants have given us lots of great tasting salad tomatoes. The big tomatoes have not done as well. Some of them are great and some rot on the vine. I've never seen that happen before.

I'll learn from this year's mistakes and do things a little differently next year. I'll try some new vegetables too.

Eat Local

Strategic Spending on Organic Foods

Eating Locally

Say Bye Bye to Bananas

A New Yorker Tries the 100 Mile Diet

Title: Sweet and Juicy Strawberries
Artist: David Carter Brown
Type: Art Print
Size: 12 x 12 in
Our Price: $9.99
Buy at AllPosters.com

Framed   Mounted



Webmasters Make $$$