by VI
May 1. I begin the challenge with a pot of Colombian coffee (not even fair trade I sadly confess). While I do lighten the coffee with milk that is roughly local, I realize the May Challenge is a failure.
OK, it's not a failure, and it's hardly even started, but it's not the coffee I am worried about. The problem is, to a large extent, that you cannot just jump into eating local. Let's skip all the stuff about potsum vs. coffee or lard vs. olive oil or beer vs. wine--short term decisions on the challenge aspect of the challenge. I'm talking about the need to be prepared, to plan, to look at the big(ger) picture.
As we have all noted, come May, we have various products available to us in our areas. Some of us are flush others rather barren. It is May. Now, think about last year's challenge, in August. A lot of us (like me), knew August as an overflowing time of local produce. What if I lived in Florida though. I would be as lean then as a northerner is now. That's the thing, you cannot rely only on your fertile seasons to eat local.
The best contestants can face a challenge in ANY month because they are always ready to eat local. They have preserved their harvests in cans, in the freezer, through drying, smoking and other methods. They stock away roots and apples and other keepers. They have found local farmers that extend their growths through greenhouses. Be ready.
For me, one of my successes for the May Challenge will be not to see how well I eat in May, but how well I know I am gonna eat next May. I hope others do they same.
Vital Information has been where I've been tracking the Oak Park Illinois Farmer's Market for the last few years and describing my attempts to eat local. You will also see writing about various places to eat in and around Chicago (with the occasional side trip).
