www.eatlocalchallenge.com

The Locavore Defense

by Jen Maiser, Editor

From last night's Law and Order: SVU.  Robin Williams claims he can't possibly have participated in a crime at a fast food restaurant because he's a locavore.  I just about fell out of my chair.  (video via Serious Eats)

The Great Sunflower Project

By Joanne White, Fork & Bottle

Gretchen LeBuhn, an associate professor at San Francisco State, has launched The Great Sunflower Project. It's a community science project which has a goal to look at the health of local bees and how pollination both wild and garden are being affected. As you may know, there is great concern about the bee population in the US, and this project is targeting bees to see how they are doing nationwide.

To join the project, they ask you to plant a native sunflower (and they will send you seeds) and then twice a month watch a sunflower to see how long it takes for 5 bees to visit that one flower. The information should help them get a picture of how bees are being affected (and what state they are in) in the hopes of setting a plan to help them. If you don't have a garden, the website also lists public gardens where you can observe bees.

Food Justice Meets Eating Local in Chef Bryant Terry

by Expat Chef (Beth Bader)

After the publication of In Defense of Food, and the book’s prose that suggested we should all be spending more on better food, Michael Pollan was accused of being “elitist” along with a generalized slam on the “Eat Local” movement. I took it personal. These are the kinds of negatives that can take away from an important grass roots effort like Eat Local Challenge. Even so, I had to admit, there was a grain of truth there.

While I actually save money buying better produce and meats direct from the farmers instead of a Whole Foods, I also know that even this more affordable approach is still out of reach for many. And that has to change. Food policy has to change. And hopefully it will through efforts of individuals like Bryant Terry.

Bryant Terry is an activist for “Food Justice” and his efforts are truly compelling. Terry founded b-healthy! (Build Healthy Eating and Lifestyles to Help Youth) in 2001. The program aims to empower youth to be active in creating a more just and sustainable food system. He also initiated the Black and Green Food Justice Fund that supports community-based projects promoting food justice. This year, Terry has started the Southern Organic Kitchen Project with the help of a Kellogg Foundation Food and Society Policy Fellowship.

Bryant Terry managed to make some time to do an interview for Eat. Drink. Better. on Food Justice and his current projects just as he started major work on his next book due out in 2009, Organic Soul. The interview and his site are both good reads for anyone interested in Food Justice. And good recipes.

While Bryant Terry is an activist, he is also an “eco-chef” and the co-author of Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen, His resume includes three episodes of the BET series “My Two Cents,” and the Sundance Channel’s original series “Big Ideas for a Small Planet.” Bryant is also a host on “The Endless Feast,” a 13-episode PBS series that explores the connection between the earth and the food on our plates. Online, Terry contributes blog posts on Eco-Soul Food on TheRoot.com.

What Challenge

By VI

Sprouts, an endless capacity to eat apples, a couple of road trips, a better version of Peapod, a new market, new markets, and a sweet spot in the attic; my fellow bloggers and locavores, I am pleased to report that my family and I have succeeded the challenge of eating local all winter from a brick bungalow just outside of Chicago.

Farmers Market Fare

© Dwight Smith | Dreamstime.com

Starting this week, Eat. Drink. Better. will host a recipe and local food post carnival that will run from now until November.

Each week, submit your post to farmerfare [at] gmail [dot] com. Submissions are due by 2 p.m. Sunday, EST. The post must be non-commercial and contain a recipe or story about local food you prepared/purchased/picked up that week at a farmers market, CSA, garden/community garden or direct from a local food producer. Recipes are great posts, but personal stories are also of interest. Your post must also include a link to the carnival edition here at Eat. Drink. Better.

The carnival will be posted each week, with links to you. You can also use blogcarnival.com as a path to submitting.

The carnival will be a great way to connect more readers to your work on the Eat Local Challenge site if you are an author on ELC and post that week or if you are participating in the challenge at your own blog. Be sure to show your ELC support in your post to build awareness with any new local foodies.

Looking forward to hearing how your local food season is going!