The Power of Eat Local Seasons (v. Weeks)

Day 3 of Eat Local Challenge Series

Three days in and we are starting to hit our stride.

It isn’t that eating local has suddenly become a lot easier. It’s more that we are getting better at letting go of things we had grown comfortable with and have had a hard time carving out of our diets.

For me, my biggest challenge has been letting go of my favorite hot sauces, none of which meet localvore requirements, and grabbing a handful of nuts, typically salted peanuts or mixed nuts, as a quick snack. For my wife it was probably raw sugar in her coffee. For the kids, it would seem that chocolate is the center of their snacking universe, whether chocolate chip cookies, chocolate milk, hot chocolate, etc. They also miss having the option of being able to buy their lunch at school (other than my 13 year old, who you know by now has carved out lunch).

To their credit (specifically my 10 and 11 year olds), my kids have shown tremendous discipline, saying “no” to offers from friends at school to break their local focus: Positive Pie pizza (2009 Seven Daysies award winner for “Best Pizza Outside Chittenden County”…well deserved!), Nature’s Path Organic Toaster Pastries (strawberry frosted variety…a favorite), fruit leathers, Newman’s Own oreo-type cookies and school snacks.

“Just Say No” is taking on a whole new meaning from my family!

The real problem may be less about letting go than it is about using what you have. You see, living in New England for the last nine years has taught us a thing or two about being resourceful. Call it Yankee ingenuity. If we have something that might go bad if we don’t eat it, we eat it. If we have something in the pantry that can be substituted for something we don’t currently have stocked, we use it. And so on.

Which makes the flip-a-switch-and-start-eating-local-for-a-week approach very difficult for us, as I expect it is  for many others. In fact, I’m growing a little concerned that the idea of a week-long Eat Local Challenge, which sounds so good on the surface, may unintentionally turn people away from eating local more often because they get the impression that its difficult. The same thing already happens with many people’s first experience with community supported agriculture (CSA) programs, where “supermarket withdrawl” settles in and people start missing the convenience and flexibility of getting “fresh” produce from large supermarkets.

Maybe what we need is an Eat Local Season (rather than a single week), where people are encouraged to ease into eating local by replacing pantry items with local options when they restock, which over time will increase the percentage of local foods used in preparing meals and snacks.
The season could start when school lets out, to eliminate the “school lunch exemption,” and run into early fall. If you timed it right, by the time people had turned over much of their pantry, the produce harvest would be in full bloom and the Eat Local Season Challenge could culminate in a Harvest Week, which is when participants give their 100% effort to eat local.

Maybe next year.

For now, we will keep letting go this week in hopes that in the weeks to follow we find ourselves reaching for the local options more frequently.

Wrapping Our Heads around Eating Local

Day 2 of Eat Local Challenge Series

My family has been eating healthy food for as far back as I can remember. By healthy, I mean using fresh ingredients, with some preserved foods, mostly done so by food processors, to prepare home cooked meals.

Coming into this week’s Eat Local Challenge 2009, we figured it wouldn’t be a big stretch for us to add “local” to our routine, especially since we participate in a community supported agriculture (CSA) program at Wellspring Farm in Marshfield and have a large vegetable garden of our own.

What we are finding out is all the things we have been taking for granted, including many commonly used ingredients that are difficult, if not impossible to source from within 100 miles: sugar, flour, coffee, exotic spices, baking powder, baking soda, citrus fruits and juices, and so on.

Granted, we are using the Marco Polo Rule to allow the use of some of these food products, as well as five “wild card” foods, so we aren’t going cold turkey. But what if we, as a family or as a region, truly had to make such adjustments? How would we make that work? It’s hard to imagine given how accustom we have become to getting what we want when we want it.

Yesterday, my 11 year old daughter asked why more Vermont farmers and processors don’t find ways to create the products we import, e.g., grapes and raisins. Great question. The answer can be quite complex, and depends quite a bit on one’s perspective. For example, in a household with two working adults, time is a severely limiting factor, which is at least part of the reason why nearly half of the money American’s spend on food is spent eating out. Of that, nearly half is spent on fast food. In other words, even if Vermont farmers produced more of the ingredients needed, this group of consumers would not likely become regular customers.

On the other hand, if those farmers were able to sell such products to Vermont’s restaurants and institutions, e.g., UVM and Fletcher Allen, in significantly greater quantities, then those same consumers would indirectly be supporting those farmers with their “away from home” food expenditures, assuming they ate out at Vermont-owned restaurants versus national chains or fast food joints.

My point? Vermont, like any other region, has significant upside potential in supporting local farmers, dairies, ranchers and processors through consumer food expenditures for at home and away from home consumption. Taking a week out of our year to understand the subtleties and challenges of eating local has already opened our eyes to how we can better do our part.

Today’s Localvore Meals

• Breakfast:  Scrambled eggs (Savage Gardens in North Hero), Vermont Maple Sausage (Vermont Smoke and Cure in South Barre), strawberries (Taste of the North, St. Lawrence Valley, Quebec), and Cold Hollow Cider Mill apple cider…to grogy this AM to remember to add peppers and chives from our garden and some wonderful Vermont-made cheese, but did get to sit down with entire family from breakfast on a school day, which was quite the treat

• Lunch:  Vermont Soy Maple Ginger Tofu, Cabot Sharp Cheddar Cheese, homemade “local” muffins, hard boiled eggs (Savage Gardens), and lemon and regular cucumbers and carrots from our garden and Wellspring Farm (13-Year-Old Exception: U-32 cafeteria…no luck yet on getting her to take a lunch, although we will keep trying)

• Dinner (Previous Night):  Savory Vegetables in Polenta Crust (recipe in From the Cook’s Garden by Ellen Ecker Ogden) – utilized great local ingredients, e.g., Butterworks Farm cornmeal, Rainville Family Farm organic sunflower oil and red bell peppers, onion, garlic, zucchini, basil and oregano from our garden; salad made from our garden and Wellspring Farm CSA produce; Monument Farm milk

• Wild Cards: French Roast Coffee (Fresh Coffee Now in Burlington), baking powder (muffins)

• Exceptions: (1) 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar in last night’s dinner; (2) raw cane sugar for coffee (were going to try out maple syrup, but ran out over weekend; will be buying syrup and maple sugar to test out…stay tuned)

• Market Opportunities: following items might be ripe for Vermont food entrepreneurs – localvore breads (know Red Hen has some, but were sold out; couldn’t find any at Hunger Mt. Co-op in Montpelier), localvore dry pastas, raisins (my daughter will be your best customer), kid-tested peanut butter substitute

Related Posts:

• Day 1 – Refrigerator & Pantry Stocked for Local Eating Challenge
• Taking a Long View of Kids Eating Local
• Is Buying Food Locally More Important than Eating Local Food?

Stocked Up for Local Eating Challenge

Day 1 of Eat Local Challenge Series

Following the Mad River Valley Localvore Project’s lead, my family is following the Marco Polo Rule (i.e., salt, pepper, spices) and taking five wildcards (i.e., coffee, olive oil, baking powder, baking soda, TBD) in our 2009 Eat Local Challenge.

Thank goodness for these exceptions, since I can’t imagine either my wife or me starting out the day without a hot cup of coffee. By the way, our Organic, Fair Traded certified coffee of choice this week is a French Roast from Burlington-based Fresh Coffee Now.

When we are unable to find something locally grown or raised, e.g., coffee beans, something that became readily apparent during our “stocking up” food shop on Sunday, it is important to have a succession of next best alternatives, e.g., organic, locally processed or locally-owned retail. Which raises an important question related to eating local which I covered in a recent blog post: Is it more important to buy from locally-owned retailers than it is to eat local food?

While I won’t revisit that post again, I will suggest that if there were more locally-owned food retailers (see Mad River listing as example) that would likely be smaller and more intimate than today’s average supermarket (>45,000 square feet), then regional consumers would have increased, everyday access to locally grown, raised and processed foods. The term “everyday” is key, since currently many people have to use exceptional channels to purchase such foods, e.g., once-a-week farmers markets and CSA programs.

This symbiotic relationship between local food producers and retailers should allow both to grow and prosper, and, most important, begin taking back market share in a market dominated by industrial-sized food companies.

Today’s Localvore Meals

• Breakfast:  Butterworks Farm Maple Yogurt and Taste of the North (St. Lawrence Valley, Quebec) strawberries with homemade granola, and Cold Hollow Cider Mill apple cider (13-year-old exception: local scrambled eggs w/ Grafton Village cheddar cheese and Monument Farm 2% milk)

• Lunch:  Vermont Soy Maple Ginger Tofu (not sure about ginger), Shelburne Farms Maple Cheddar Cheese, and cucumbers, tomatoes and green beans from our garden (13-year-old exception: U-32 cafeteria’s salad bar – not sure how local)

• Dinner:  see Day 2 post

• Wild Cards: Coffee

Related Posts:

• Day 2 – Wrapping Our Heads around Eating Local
• Taking a Long View of Kids Eating Local
• Is Buying Food Locally More Important than Eating Local Food?