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.
I moved here from Chicago, and Berkeley, CA before that. I worked for 10 years as a chef in Berkeley, enjoying the fresh food revolution that has already penetrated the mind set of the eating community there. Upon moving to rural Illinois, I sort of gave up on eating organic, “responsible” foods. Unavailable in my local super markets, I thought that those options simply didn’t exist here.
How did you hear about the ELC?
I heard about the Eat Local Challenge on your blog! You seemed so excited and pumped up about it, I just had to read more. I started reading the ELC blog, and some of the other contributors blogs, and I became compelled to make the effort to eat local in my new environment.
What prompted you to do the ELC?
The idea of eating local is a lofty principal in this fast-food, convenience-driven culture that all but chews our food for us. The moral obligation to take some of the pressure off the global environmental crisis that commercial farming causes falls on our every day decisions. The deep desire to “drop out” of the Wal-mart shopping, McDonald’s eating ease that is lulling our country into a fat, stupid, jobless coma has to start with a commitment to spend our hard earned cash on better products.
What fears did you have making this decision?
I knew I could talk the talk. I listen to hours of NPR, and I read the papers, I even geek out on C-Span. I am informed, I have no excuse. These are issues I am so familiar with. But I was afraid that the expectation just couldn’t be met where I live.
What has been the best part?
The best part was finding out that I was completely wrong!
Name your three favorite new food resources and how you located them?
One 15 minute session on the internet revealed several CSA farms, and a few farmer’s markets, so I set out to meet my food. I met a young woman named Abby, who, with her husband, raises chickens and grows food for CSA. I have been buying her wonderful, colorful eggs ever since. They taste great, and the chickens live happy chicken lives. I also have some chickens on hold when they are grown and ready to eat. She practices sustainable farming and is only 8 miles from my house. I met another woman named Cyndi who operated a small farm, and also keeps bees. Depending on the amount they harvest this year, I may have the chance to get some of this hot commodity! She offered me some of her fresh milk, but I have to confess to the fact that I couldn’t hang with it. I could taste the grass! She also spins, and I got some great yarn from her. Here I thought there was nothing but Red Heart for miles around. I also found stone ground flour made at a windmill! The rye flour is locally grown, but the wheat comes from Kansas and the corn, Wisconsin. I bought it anyway, because it was ground at a windmill, and that is just too cool. It’s great flour too; nutty flavor and a great texture.
What have you decided to "do without" for the month since not locating locally?
I haven’t bought any bread, cookies, bagels for the whole month. I have been baking my own. The ingredients are not completely local, but the fresh baked goodies have added a lot to our daily diets in the way of whole grains and fresh eggs, with no preservatives or weird stuff.
Are you willing to keep "doing without"?
I plan on keeping up with the baking.
Have you found a substitute?
I am still looking for locally grown grains. I’d also really like to find locally grown legumes.
What would have been different if you had a year to prepare to take the ELC?
I would have frozen veggies more diligently last summer! I got lazy and just started giving the veg away. I sort of decided to join at the very last minute, so I really spent most of the month doing research. By ELC next year, I’ll be good and ready, with the larders full!
How will you continue your "eat local" journey now that the month of May is drawing to a close?
Well, my garden is just starting to produce, which will keep us in fresh veggies for months and frozen veggies for most of the winter, if Mother Nature smiles upon me. I also have a line on some local beef, and chickens. There is a cheese maker about 20 miles from here, and it’s readily available in all the local stores. And much to my surprise, the last time I went to “the big grocery store” in the next town, there was some fair-trade coffee on the shelf!
Do you intend to keep the same level of commitment, more, or less?
I intend on making a bigger commitment on an everyday basis. This is a really important issue to me, and the Eat Local Challenge has really helped me to get focused. I am also taking the opportunity to write about my findings as much as possible. Going to little farms and doing interviews for the paper is great. I can get paid a little to find great sources for food and share the findings with the public. The more I look around the more I realize that the people living around me either grew upon a small, sustainable farm, or their parents or grandparents did. It’s not that far removed from the culture here, maybe only one or two generations. I’m not telling them anything new, just reminding them of how good it used to be.
Any final thoughts or words of wisdom?
I’d just like to add that this experience was the right thing at the right time. It came along at a time that I was really missing the Bay Area, and the Berkeley Bowl! The ELC helped me to step outside the box, and check out what is here. I live in the middle of farm country. If you can’t find food here, where can you find it! I have met a few wonderful, like-minded people that I know will become good friends. I have discovered a way to take my love of food, and combine it with my work at the paper. There is always room for a story about a farmer in the Echo! I hope to expand on this and teach my children the right way to eat. To top it off, I found locally hand-spun yarn and a fiber mill only a few miles from here. Who knew ELC would expand my knitting options as well! Thanks for the great idea, Birdsong!
Birdsong lives in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California, where she blogs about her passions at A View from Sierra County.
