www.eatlocalchallenge.com

NPR: Supermarkets Tout Fresh, Local Offerings

by Jen Maiser

NPR's Morning Edition had a segment this week about supermarket chains that are working to provide local produce.  I was interested recently to hear that Raley's is among California supermarkets working to provide local food to consumers.  The NPR segment is interesting as it has interviews with farmers, supermarkets, and marketing people (who expect local produce to become a $7 billion business within the next 4 years ... a statement which rather confuses me, as all produce is local to somewhere).

Head over to NPR to hear the full story.

Washington Post: A Shorter Link between the Farm and the Dinner Plate

by Jen Maiser

The Washington Post this week published an article discussing the local food movement specific to the Washington DC area. (via Ethicurean)

American Flatbread in Ashburn sits a few turns off the Dulles Greenway on the cusp of burgeoning suburbia. Parked in a strip shopping center behind a McDonald's and sharing a wall with a Glory Days Grill, this is an unlikely place to find a food movement.

Customers at the new pizzeria dine on weekly specials that include poultry and pork raised free-range and greens that are freshly picked. Much of the food is organic. But the real emphasis is local.

Continue reading here

Watch your (Fo)odometer!

posted by Sara Zoë

“Interested in eating less oil? In this VideoNation/Hidden Driver report, animator Molly Schwartz keeps track of how many miles your food travels from field to fork.”

I like that the (very cute & well designed) video brings up some of the other environmental factors besides food miles that eating locally helps to address - packaging and processing. When you bring your own bag to the farmers’ market or farm stand (I keep a couple totes in the car and near the door), you can get out of there with lots of food and very little packaging indeed - no more layers of cellophane, cardboard, more plastic. And most of the food is in its raw, unprocessed form. The book Twinkie, Deconstructed was enormously insightful for me - I learned a lot about the amount of energy needed to create processed foods. Sort of unbelievable how many factories and how much processing goes into a lot of everyday sorts of foods, let alone the super-processed Twinkies. For me, eating locally has not really been about nutrition and health (more taste enjoyment, environment, and society) but this all gets me thinking about those benefits, too - about how I don't really want to put things in my body that are the product of industry and chemical reactions. That the vegetables taste better when they are grown with more care and harvested ripe makes it a whole lot easier to eat healthy.

cross posted at the Seacoast Eat Local blog

Boston Globe: The Localvore's Dilemma

by Jen Maiser

The Boston Globe published an article this week titled "The Localvore's Dilemma."  In it, the author outlines the question of whether eating locally-grown food really is better for energy consumption than growing the food far away in an area meant to grow that particular product and bringing it in to the cities using energy-saving methods (ie., train vs. truck).  This is the same discussion that comes from Peter Singer's book, The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter and has been echoed recently by several other sources.  Local is fine and can be energy efficient, asserts the Globe, but not when you are using greenhouses to grow out of season food that isn't normally grown in your area. 

Organic Farming: Sustainable and Efficient

There's a great study on Live Science that shows how organic farming produce just as high, and in some cases higher, yields than industrial agriculture. The study debunks the myth that industrial agriculture is more efficient in short term and especially long term production. Over time, the quality of the soil that is preserved by sustainable, organic methods actually increases the yield in comparison to industrial practices.

The only benefit to industrial practices is the savings in labor and the convenience, which both have tremendous costs in damage to the environment. It's an enlightening study, and a quick, informative read.

A Note From Our Farmers

While buying local is a great thing to do to reduce one's carbon footprint, and to support sustainable small farms, there is a lot more you are getting in the process than just food.

We try to buy eggs either through our CSA, or the local ones that are sold at the store. Both varieties taste great and are from pastured hens. One of the producers includes a note in each carton that lets you know how the "girls" are doing that week.

Choosing Local, One Thing at a Time

by Expat Chef

An interview with Tim Schlitzer, Executive Director, Food Routes Network and Buy Fresh Buy Local.

Chances are if you live near one of its 50 chapters in 17 states, you've seen a "Buy Fresh Buy Local" sign. Sighting one of these is a great way to know you are near a source of an active local food network.

"It's not a brand," he says. "It's just continuity that can be identified." You see, brands, according to Tim, mean a label. A set definition. Rules. Eating local is for a person and a community to define for themselves. An approach not unlike that of the Eat Local Challenge.

Eat Local Frederick

By Sarah Irani

Last year I decided to promote the Eat Local Challenge in my hometown, Frederick, Maryland. We already boast several farmers markets, a wonderful food co-op, and a rich agricultural heritage. We had a few poorly attended events last summer. For example, there were only four of us at the potluck, but the kale soup was delicious and the church gave us the leftover homemade Communion bread to break and share. 

This year, things are a little more exciting. A friend of mine has produced an award-winning documentary entitled, Organic Frederick. She's taking the film on the road and I'm along for the ride promoting the Eat Local Frederick campaign!

One Local Summer 2007

by Liz

Looking for an easy way to introduce local eating into your lifestyle?  Join us at One Local Summer, where as a group, we are preparing one entirely local dinner (or as close as we can get) each week of the summer. It's a great way to explore the bounty of what your state has to offer, and start learning when certain things come into season.

There's really no better time to start eating local produce than in the summer when vegetables are at their peak in freshness and flavor, and farmers markets are in full swing.