www.eatlocalchallenge.com

Interview with an ELC Newbie

by Birdsong S.

Stacie is one of my virtual friends (no, not like the imaginary ones of my youth - you will see, she is very real).  We met through a group knitting effort, and read each other's personal blogs regularly.  She got very curious about the May Eat Local Challenge when I began promoting it the month before, and although she had some trepidations, decided to plunge in and give it a go.

As May wound down, I decided to interview Stacie, an eat-local newbie, to see how things went...

First off, tell us a little about who you are, where you live, rural, urban, etc.

My name is Stacie, and I am 36 and a mother of two little boys, 2 and 4 years old. I work a few hours a week at the local paper, and I love the extra time it gives me to garden, and knit, and blog. I live in NW Illinois, in a town of 2000 people.

Summer Begins at the Market

by Expat Chef

Today was one of those days that reminds me about all I love at the farmer’s market. It’s a special place, set in an old, quaint district in suburbia. The shops are not chains, and include everything from a paint store to art galleries.

The market has a pavilion at one end where different groups gather. Early in the day, it is the T’ai Chi group, later local bands play. A small fountain set into the walkway is a playground for kids and the coffee shop has a tent outdoors. A cool wind and warm sun make for an unusually perfect day.

The first thing is always coffee, and a croissant for my little one. You can tell the seasons are changing, spring to summer, not by the humidity, but because the spring lettuces are gone, the heartier, later ones have taken their place. The last of the asparagus is out. We bought three bunches of the purple spears. The grower thanked us for being so dedicated and promised to see us when she returned in July with corn and tomatoes.

Eating Locally Covered in Time Magazine

by Barbara Fisher

You knew it had to happen eventually.

The mainstream news media has caught wind of the issue of eating locally, and the coverage has begun.

This week's (June 12th) edition of Time Magazine has a large special section called "Eating Smart" that includes an article entitled, "The Lure of the 100-Mile Diet," which mentions the Locavores, and the ELC blog.

It is a really good article that puts the ideals of eating locally forth in a concise, entertaining fashion, and includes quotes from Jessica Prentice, Pat McGovern, and myself. The illustration, in fact, is a portrait of me on my deck seated in front of my tomato and herb container garden, holding a platter of locally harvested fruits and vegetables.

Harvesting Herbs

By Sarah Irani

We have a rosemary bush planted beneath the dryer vent. The warm, carbon-dioxide filled air keeps it green and growing all year. What started as a little seedling has grown to gigantic proportions. It has been encroaching upon our front door, so I decided to harvest it. It is impossible for one to eat this much rosemary. So, I dried it and in the coffee grinder turned it into a rich, green powder that I can use to season poultry and give away to culinary-minded foodie friends.   

I have also begun harvesting the lemon balm and mint that is growing out of control!  I hung an old hat-rack up in the kitchen to act as an herb-drying rack. It is working out nicely! When mixed with chamomile, catnip and a dollop of honey this herb combination makes a lovely tea.

An Hourglass of Pollution: The Uneven Burdens of Trade

By Marc

One of the goals of the Eat Local Challenge is to raise questions about what we eat. Who produced the food?  What methods did they use?  Where does it come from?  How did it get here?  And what sorts of envirionmental impacts are incurred along the way?  Answering these last two questions requires a closer look at the international goods distribution system, something that is so diffuse outside of the major port regions that it usually fades into the background. 

The international goods distribution system is a complex multi-modal network (roads, shipping lines, airports, railroads).  Most goods arrive in the U.S. on huge ships loaded with containers that can be mounted directly onto rail cars or truck beds for transport to warehouses or repacking centers.   The highest density of activity is around the major ports, and the impacts are concentrated on whoever lives and works nearby.  A good way to visualize this is as an hourglass.  Container ships bring goods from all over the world.  They converge on a narrow region (the port), where the goods are transferred to trucks and trains. The trucks and trains travel away from the port on a tightly-packed network of freeways and railroad tracks, and then spread out across the nation.   

Spreading

In this article from CNET on who's greener, Microsoft or Google, there's a gem way down near the end:

Among the [Google} campus's five cafeterias is one opened in March called Cafe 150, which serves only ingredients from farms within 150 miles of the kitchen. The trash volume in the dining room is zero and all the to-go silverware, cups and containers are compostable, said Nate Keller, Cafe 150 executive chef. The ovens are economical, using computers to set temperatures and cooking times. One local supplier delivers goods in a biodiesel-based truck and fills it up with fat from the kitchen's fryer, Keller said.

"If you transport food from Chile, or even Florida, that's a significant distance and greenhouse gases are emitted in the transportation of that food," Van Velsor said.

Yeah, it's spreading.

(And can I just add that it's about durn time mainstream environmentalism made a come-back?)

Sara Zoë is a farm groupie on the seacoast of New Hampshire and blogs between grad school and work about folkfood.
 

The Eat Local Restaurant Thank You Program

by The Editors

One of the hardest parts about participating in an Eat Local Challenge is finding restaurants cooking with ingredients from local vendors.  When I do find them, I have often wished there was a way that I could let the proprietor know that I am specifically coming to their restaurant because they support local farmers and producers.  It's good food and good service that keeps me coming back, but often the first step in the door is due to a restaurants' commitment to buying locally.

And I know that I'm not alone. 

The farm behind Farm 255

by Jamie S.

Some of you may remember my recent post about eating at Farm 255. Well, this weekend I had a fantastic opportunity: I was able to visit Full Moon Cooperative Farm, the farm that supplies much of the restaurant's produce and serves as its inspiration.

Jason Mann, agroecologist and director of Full Moon, is also one of the three owners of the restaurant. He has worked with some of the best minds in the field, including Michael Pollan. He is word-tumblingly enthusiastic and engaging, and I think that within the space of one morning, he may have assimilated me into the biodynamic agriculture borg.

Save South Central Farmers

by mipmup

After a month of enjoying the pleasures of eating locally-produced food, basking in the light of my open refrigerator which holds an abundance of beautiful seasonal vegetables, it was truly with a heavy heart that I heard others in my area may not be so lucky. The South Central Farm is a 14-acre urban garden serving the needs of a working-class (or as the site describes it "impoverished") neighborhood. Unfortunately, the farmers are being threatened with eviction at any minute because, according to ABC News, "...the owner Ralph Horowitz...plans to pave the area and develop it; some speculate he may build a Wal-Mart."

U-pick, U-eat, U-love

 

by Suzanne Miller

I second Birdsong’s ode to strawberries.  ‘Tis the season indeed.

In Davis there’s a small organic u-pick strawberry field at Pacific Star Farm.   It’s about 10 minutes from my house on a old county road.  We arrived late on Memorial Day.  It was hot.  The field radiated a strawberry smell that – how can I say this – enveloped us.  It was like we wandered into a warm strawberry cloud.  Heaven. 

As I said the farm is organic, so it’s safe for me and my toddler.  She “helps me”: takes strawberries out of my bucket, stares at them with wonder and awe, sticks her finger in them as far as it will go, then throws them on the ground.  She doesn’t want to eat them  (ever since my husband snuck sardines in her rice, she’s rightfully suspicious of new food), but I suspect that next year she’ll be stuffing her mouth.