Now here's a challenge... those crazy kids out in the Bay Area, Jen at Life Begins at 30 and The Locavores, are challenging us to eat locally in May. As in only food grown or produced in your local area.
We love this idea, and are jealous that an idea like this pops into the heads of folks out west so early in the year. We wonder if August might be a more fitting time for those of us still thawing out on the East Coast. Visit their websites for me details, and sign up.
Here are the guidelines (you can be as strict or as loose as you want):
In designing your personal challenge, you should answer the following questions:
1. What's your definition of local for this challenge?
The Locavores are using a 100-mile radius around their home to define local foods. I will be doing the same. You could define local as anything from within your county to within the state or the United States.
2. What exemptions will you claim?
There are some things that are a part of your everyday life that will be impossible to source locally. Will you be drinking coffee during this month? What will you do about spices? In many areas, local grains are hard to find. What will you do if you can't find them?
3. What is your personal goal for the month?
You don't have to set your goal at eating every meal locally -- while that is the ideal, we want to be realistic here. You could set a goal of having each dinner with local products, having one family meal a week, or even hosting one weekend picnic with local foods during the month.
(photo: Arethusa Collective Farm, Burlington, VT)
you know, i think this should be a Kitchen task in August or July. I know I'd be fully into the challenge in when the greenmarket was in its full glory.
Thanks for the link. We are very excited about this challenge. Look for www.eatlocalchallenge.com to launch in the next couple days. There are a couple of authors for this blog who will be running an August challenge (East Coasters and Canadians). If that doesn't work, I would love to work with people to set up a different summertime challenge for the NY Area.
yes, let's try a northeastern one for this summer!
IN NYC, I think we'd do better with two hundred mile parameter. As far as I know, the local CSAs (and my food coop) buy from places that are easily 100 miles away.
What's the proximity rule at the Greenmarket?
This is much more difficult than it seems at first glance. The Canadians who started the 100 mile diet realized that they could buy milk from "locally" raised dairy cows except...the cows' feed (corn, soybeans, etc) was grown 1000 miles away in the Canadian prairies. And on and on.
I'd love to do this for July or August.
I agree with flip that it's hard to be a 100% purist on this one, but I think total purity is beside the point.
If the whole process gets you thinking and realizing where all your food is coming from, and inspires you to try out some new local options, that's the real value of the challenge.
Down here on the NH seacoast, I am summoning up energy to take the challenge 'public' in August. The Locavores and the May Eat Local Challenge crew are pretty understanding that this would be hard for many people in New England. Rather than essentially limiting it to only the most die-hard, I am staying firm with August -
And good point flip - about the cow's food - but I still think every little bit helps. For example, in May my partner and I are going to try for locally *produced* foodstuffs, whereas in August we will challenge ourselves much more. Buying the local milk, even if the cows aren't eating local grain, is a step in the right direction.
And word to NYC going with 200 miles - again, steps in the right direction.
well, cows are supposed to eat grass, not grain, so if you're drinking milk from grain-fed cows (which is what, like, every cow in north america?) then you're going to see cows living on land that may be poor for growing grain.
i'd love to see a version of this challenge where we only consume humanely raised and harvested foods (i try to do this anyway).
may seems too early on east coast, our plant dont even go into ground until memorial day....
What does a 200-mile radius from NYC look like? A 100-mile radius? Anyone know how to do this on google maps?
I'm planning on doing this in June or July. Being in Ann Arbor (MI) most of what I need will be available within a 100-mile radius, except some staples like coffee and tea (which aren't really worth the headache to give up, methinks.)
A 200 mile radius is roughly the 8th bar up from the bottom of the zoom bar on the upper left on Google maps, at least in my resolution. I'm sure there's an easier way, but you can just measure how whide the map pane is, and then use the scal in the lower left to figure out the approx. radius.
I can't imagine giving up coffee no matter what month it was, but I do like the idea of this challenge. How about a compromise with the coffee, though, and buying it from a locally owned shop, rather than a big chain, and getting the organic or shade-grown varieties?
And of course, here in Pittsburgh, like our other northern neighbors, the farmers are just getting the crops in the ground about now. The farmers' markets open Memorial Day Weekend.
The Eat Local Challenge is flexible, so you can make exemptions for foods such as coffee. For example, I plan to buy mine from the fair trade shop down the street.