www.eatlocalchallenge.com

Onward and Upward

by Sara Zoe

I started off my post-August-challenge day with an avocado (on locally made bread, local eggs, local salsa, and local cheese). The lunch I just finished was peanut butter with locally made bread and my own raspberry jam made with very very local raspberries (and a totally non-local lemon and some sugar from who knows where). Next up, prosciutto.

But the avocado, peanut butter, and prosciutto were all carefully chosen: purchased at locally owned, independant stores. The peanut butter and prosciutto were produced by small scale companies, barely known.

And thus begins September's challenge, a continuation, but with a more relaxed rules.

Challenge Announcement: Better Late Than Never

by Sara Zoe

I've been so busy with the Seacoast Eat Local Challenge and participating in the challenge myself, that when someone asked me where they could read my announcement, I realized I never got around to that -  be assured, I've been participating since August 1.

Without further ado:

My Cheating Heart

But not the sort of cheating you might think. Not really cheating at all, except I feel a little guilt - so I must have done something  . . .

My farmer friends are all part of the Seaocast Growers Association. They sell in the Seacoast Growers markets, to whom I was exlusively faithful - until today.

After loading up at the Portsmouth market this morning, me and B headed up to York for their Saturday morning market. We had brought a cooler for the meat we got at Portsmouth, it was all very premeditated.

What I didn't expect was to fall head over heels in love with the York market, and it's all the fault of the Eat Local Challenge.

Living in Eden, Drying out from the Rains

by Tana Butler

(Pictured at left: my table last August, a partial display of the week's acquisition from various farmers markets.)

I tell people I live in Eden. As in, "The Garden of Eden," where "garden" in fact means "more organic/sustainable farms than any county in California," and probably the entire country. With roughly a third the acreage and population of Fresno, Santa Cruz County has 30% more organic farms.

It has become my life's work to visit, photograph, and write about these places—not just here, but wherever I travel in the world. Travel itself has taken on a new meaning: I'm not interested in going somewhere unless I can squeeze in a visit to a farm or a farmers market.

I for one welcome our new corporate overlords

by Suzanne Miller

I first read about the Locavores and the Eat Local Challenge almost a year ago in an SF Chronicle article. It instantly appealed to me.

I had been floundering, trying to figure out what was seasonal (anyone ever looked at agriculture harvesting tables??). Wandering the farmers markets, I’d clutch my cloth bag and wonder what on earth people did with eggplants. But joining a group of people eating local for a month seemed… I dunno, doable. It also motivated me to get serious and buy a fricking eggplant.

When I started getting ready for August, amazing things happened.

 

In desperation, I joined a CSA, which I recommend for eat-local newbies. You don’t need to figure out what to buy, when, or what to do with it. You get a box of just-picked produce from a local farm with a newsletter telling you how to store the food, ideas for cooking the food, and farm updates.