So I just finished a book called The 100-Mile Diet - A Year of Local Eating. Two journalists from British Columbia challenged themselves to eat only food that originated within 100 miles of Vancouver. Other than not being able to find flour they could make into bread, pancakes, etc., and having to eat a lot of potatoes until they lined up their local sources, they did amazingly well. I'm not sure if I could be that disciplined, however.....I just finished dinner, and looking at my plate, I did okay. I mean, I could have been eating McDonald's, after all.
My asparagus came from a grower down the road, and the salsa I used for my potato I made myself last summer, using my own garden fresh tomatoes and peppers. But, the potato was from PEI and the pork chop? Who knows?
I've been getting more and more interested over the last couple of years in food politics, and I credit Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation with giving me a whole new perspective. I was always into eating real food when at all possible, but the 100-Mile Diet makes you realize how disconnected we are from our food, and how you don't think about what it really means when you choose the $1.29/lb tomatoes in January from thousands of miles away versus the $1.69/lb local tomatoes (even though they are greenhouse grown and not in season anyway).
It makes me wonder if I can forego the imported red leaf lettuce all winter long. Something to think about!
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I love the whole concept!!! I agree!!!
ReplyDeleteIt is an overwhelming feeling wanting to start my own organic garden, where do you start?
I love the slow food movement. I've just been to lazy to follow through with it at this point, but this is the perfect time of year to decide to commit to it. I can fill my freezers full with, in season fruits and veggies. Thanks farm girl!
check out "sustainable table"
Although this movement sounds like a great idea it doesn't seem realistic to me. My food choices would be very limited - living in Central New York. It is cold about 7 months of the year here. There isn't much growing time in this neck of the woods and with a full time job doesn't leave much time to put up foods that will last all winter. I would never be able to eat an orange or banana again. I eat them almost everyday now.
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