How far has local food taken you?

By Suzanne Miller

My food travels far fewer miles than it used to, but boy have I been on a journey. Sometimes I’ve gone on autopilot, but I’m miles away from where I was way back in Spring of 2005.

But, yes, occasionally I’ve coasted. Have you? Take this summer. In a burst of energy last winter I started a vegetable garden (the ne plus ultra of local food). Between weeding the garden, immersing myself in new projects and interests, battling the occasional illness or family emergency, and running after my toddler, my energy for local food lost momentum. I still go to the Farmers’ Market, I get my CSA boxes, I still reach for local foods at the store. Yet…

... I stopped blogging and my taste for culinary adventures took a break. No more attempts at sourdough bread, pickling or complicated recipes. My grain CSA stash keeps piling up in my pantry (what do I do with unhulled Ethiopian barley? Hmmmm). I keep going to back to the same (local food) vendors and recipes to keep things “easy.” My interest in developing a local CSA for grassfed beef and pastured poultry hit a couple of hurdles. Once the time changed and I faced the holidays, I thought “Why hunt down ranchers and herd CSA members when I can stay on this cozy couch and watch Project Runway / Battlestar Galactica / Veronica Mars and order in some (albeit local) pizza?”

Then I woke up a few weeks ago and realized that while I had been on local food autopilot, other people in my town were fired up. It’s exciting to see. There are now “Local Product” signs on some of the bulk and dairy items in my Coop. My fellow shoppers at the meat counter now ask about how the animals were raised. The current issue of our Coop newsletter celebrates the local crops and foods of Yolo County.

What totally caught me off guard, though, was a recent broadcast from the local college radio station. In my day, the radio station was pretty much stoned DJs playing punk rock (enjoyable, but not very informative). Imagine my surprise when I turned it on the other morning to hear college students talking about Jennifer Greene’s grain CSA and brainstorming ways to find local food sources. The college now has a Students for Sustainable Agriculture group. The UC Davis community book project is The Omnivore’s Dilemma. My husband’s employer just turned their cafeteria over to Bon Appetit, which sources local organic food whenever possible. I’m bringing local food to our family Thanksgiving. I check back here to see how y’all are spreading the message in your areas and grappling with local produce.

And for all my mea culpa about standing still on the Eat Local front, I’ve come far too. I eat soooo differently than I did before the first Eat Local Challenge. The cool thing about eating local is that while there is always more to explore and learn, even a little bit of change has (I believe) a great effect on the local economy and zeitgeist.

Before the Eat Local Challenge I didn’t think I would:

- grill a rancher on when his piglets are weaned

- call an olive oil company to ask where their olive trees grow

- make my own lard

- ask a grower where their farm is located - exactly

- grow my own vegetables

- try composting, again.

Yeah, but try taking my Newman’s Os cookies (and my TV) away from me.

Okay, now your turn. What do you do now that you couldn’t conceive of before you got the local food bug?

Suzanne eats in Davis

Comments

[Jamie]

Honestly? I can hardly remember what it was like before I started doing this. The first time I went shopping during the 2005 ELC, I couldn't find a thing to eat. Since then, I have learned where to look. I think I shop a little more European-style now--picking up a few things here, a few things there, whenever my errands happen to take me near the purveyors.

Now the first thing I want to know about any food is its provenance.

I don't think we would ever have started buying meat directly from farmers if it hadn't been for the Challenge!

[cookiecrumb]

I used a little cinnamon in a local fig chutney the other day, and it was practically like adultery!
Truthfully, I admit to buying tortillas and canned refried beans now and then, but not a lot else that I can't trace to within a 100-mile radius. And I'm lucky; that includes seafood.
Now, when do we begin to dress locally? :-)

[expatchef]

I learned that even as my life got crazy-busy working and chasing a toddler of my own it is still possible to source local produce and serve healthy foods. No fast food, very little processed ingredients, and local when it can be had.

I learned that sharing those values -- valuing food, sustainable practices, family farms -- may be one of the best lessons I can teach my little one. Oh, and you CAN take my T.V.

[patrick]

you grilled a rancher? Now that's eatin' local!

sorry... couldn't resist. these are good questions.

I don't think I would have learned how to cook winter squash without a push to eat locally. now I just wonder why most recipes make it so sweet. but I am loving the local winter squash from the CSA right now. Oh yes.

[Julie Cummins]

Today I went to Trader Joe's because my partner needed to buy some vitamins, and I was surprised by how few things tempted me. Even though I don't usually buy the mini-quiches, fancy apple tartlets, or other novelties, I do eye them with a wistful curiosity. Today I just felt puzzled by their existence. I did leave with a few very unlocal things in the basket--but now I definitely think twice or 3 times before buying. And I go there a lot less frequently.

[Megan]

I work at Trader Joes and I have a hard time with a lot of our products... I research everything I buy and have found some of our products that fall within my 100 mile radius ( ie. microgreen salad). But The farmers market on sunday mornings has become my church. I even got my husband into it! And a bonus: my eat local diet since october has lost me 5 pounds without trying!!!

[Suzanne M]

Thanks for all the great comments. I agree with others who have lost their taste for Trader Joe's. It looks like our small town may get one eventually, but I'm worried it will take revenue away from the Coop, which focuses on local foods and does a lot for the community.

cookiecrumb: I'm actually going to try to grow cotton this year. Whether it will end up being something I wear, that's another thing entirely.

patrick: I learned how to eat chard and root vegetables last year. That was HUGE for me and has completely changed how I eat in the winter.

[Off topic: if you're not into TV, I can't help but spread the word about The Wire. Rent Season 1 DVD and try it. It's like reading a Dickens novel (full of three-dimensional characters, layers, and plot twists) but set in current times. Moving, deep, and better than most movies. And it only gets better with subsequent seasons.]

[Willa J]

My husband and I have been granola heads since the '70's. We've always had gardens, even if we just grew a few tomatoes.
Money issues, however, always made grocery shopping a dilemma- Do I vote with my dollar for the foods I know I should be eating, or buy cheap so I can pay the electricity bill? Always tricky questions. We tried to stay on the side of the light as much as possible, but many times we labored in the dark. Fortunately, I learned early that the big farmers markets in Kansas City and St. Lous were good places to shop cheap. Not always local, especially in those days, but generally cheap.

When we moved here to rural Central PA 10 years ago, I was surprised at how little local food was available at our farmer's markets. One would think, here on the edge of Amish Country, that there would be an abundance of quality local produce and meat available. But the markets were glutted with crafts and strongly scented candles; few food choices were to be seen, and I was sorely disappointed.

That has changed over the years. With forethought, it is fairly easy to eat locally throughout the growing season by accessing our CSA, the local orchards (alas, not organic), the Mennonite food stands and Amish meat and dairy producers, as well as my own garden (which, over the years, has far surpassed the 5 or 6 tomato we have traditionally grow.) When I have to run into the supermarket for one of the few non-food items I still buy there, I am always amazed that folks are buying produce when it is so much better just down the road.

This year I decided see how long I could extend the season. I spent the summer and fall canning, freezing and drying. We'll see how long my carefully preserved bounty lasts. One thing I have found is that it takes a LOT of planning to eat locally, especially if you buy things from folks who don't participate in commerce on Sundays.

The next job on my list- to convince my two grown sons and thier Significant Others to jump on the bus. In general, anything too Old Hippie in nature makes them flee like dry leaves before a hurricane, but when we went home to MO at Thanksgiving, my oldest didn't have an issue with quizzing each vendor at Soulard Farmers Market about where the collards and sweet potatoes had been grown. And to my great joy, he has acquired barrels to start a compost bin- something he swore up and down he would NEVER do back in the days when he had to help tend ours!

[pyewacket]

I wouldn't eat so many mushrooms and sprouts.

Why? Because there aren't a lot of local vegetables in New England in winter. I can still get some things now - apples, kale, pears - but even in March I can get mushrooms from a grower in Connecticut and sprouts from a grower in Vermont. I wish I had the space to root cellar, but I have a small apartment; it's just not feasible.

[I want to second the person who recommended The Wire. I only watch TV on DVD, and The Wire is the best thing I've watched in ages. It's just incredibly rich, and I wish everyone would watch it so I coudl discuss it with everyone I know.]

[Lisa]

I am visiting your blog for the first time, and I have enjoyed many of your posts. Unrelated to the meat of this post, I wanted to say that Veronica Mars, Project Runway, and BattleStar Galactica are the only new shows I watch, although I have also been watching a bit of HBO's Big Love.

[Emily]

I didn't think I'd start seeing local food *everywhere*! My cafeteria has started carrying pocket sandwiches that are made by a local company with local, vegan, organic ingredients.

I've found every food group here (Ann Arbor, Michigan) - though locally-grown grains are very limited and access to all stuff is thin in the winter. But still, Eden Organics has many products grown nearby, and canned beans are always in season. It's gotten so friends visiting from out of town load up on groceries, because taking them home to Ohio means fewer food miles than getting California produce at the "local" grocery!

[Caroline]

I've definately tried vegetables that I would never ever have tried without it. Leeks, for example. They just plain look strange and like they must taste odd. But they looked so fresh and yummy at the farmers market, I had to try them. so I looked up a recipe for them, and improvised, and low and behold, they were delicious.
I've pulled my hair out all winter over trying to find a reliable source for organic butternut squash, knowing the chemicals from the skin were getting into my food every time I cooked it, but not being able to resist my absolute favorite vegetable, and finally found one, the very last week of the season. (luckily, I bought several, which will hold me over a few more weeks. then goodbye :( )
I've realized how hard this is going to be at college though, and I trying to grow massive amounts of veggies this summer, then I'll can and dry a whole lot of them. Locally grown, home-canned spagetti sauce with pasta cooked against regulations in the microwave thats only for reheating, anyone? lol.

[Chrisso Babcock]

Interesting to hear all the foibles of attempting to eat local!
I grew up in Woodstock, NY, with parents very into organic and natural foods. Local food was never a huge focus, but I am sure that a good portion of what we bought was local, especially during the summer when we would CSA.
I am now living in Brooklyn, and finding it a little harder (to say the least) to put any amount of energy into eating locally. Organic is still a big concern for us, but anything above that can be hard. My current goal is to convince my girlfriend’s parents to start buying local eggs: there is a good farmers market in Union Square on weekends, and I saw some beauty eggs—none quite the same shape or size or color.
A suggestion for all of you looking for food in your area—Eat Well Guide, at www.eatwellguide.org. Eat Well Guide is an online database that you can use to find sustainable food in your area: restaurants that source from local farms, CSAs, and farmers markets, and other goodies like local bakers and dairy. I am currently volunteering for the guide, researching new listings—we are always trying to expand our database, so if you do check us out and can’t find anything in your area, then suggest local businesses and farms and we will add them in.
Its always great to see people actively challenging themselves to eat locally… and even more reassuring to see that people like good television. But seriously, I will have to check out the Wire—big Charles Dickens fan.

[Leslie]

I can relate to this, but coming at it from the opposite direction, as someone who is just getting started, is determined to eventually be a predominantly local eater (though tea and chocolate don't count since they're medical necessities), but by necessity is taking my time, taking it one baby step at a time. Finding resources and getting my family to buy into the changes I do put into place are as much "challenge" as I can handle.

But as for your question, "what do I do now that I couldn’t conceive of before you got the local food bug?" there are several things.

Well, for one, I let someone take my picture for the paper for an article on eating locally, which is stepping WAAAAY outside of my comfort zone, but I'm determined to both do my share of proselytizing and find other folks around me to talk to about it. (Though I am ticked at the photographer's focus on taking pictures of me near all kinds of non-local but pretty, colorful produce - see my blog to see what I mean!).

With regard to food... I don't even know where to begin. I bought a freezer, and am planning to use my birthday money to buy a vacuum sealer. I'm expanding my garden beyond a few random tomato plants in order to grow veggies to freeze for the winter. I'm planning to visit the farms where I buy my pastured beef and where I will be buying pastured chickens, and look them in the face to try and bring me back to the reality that what I'm eating didn't start out as a roast or ready-for-the-roasting pan bird. I'm just THINKING more about what I eat.