Eating Local

This morning before leaving for work my husband said to me: let's make a challenge where for one week we only eat items that are grown/made locally. He had heard the term localvore on NPR Radio on his ride into work and was intrigued to give it a try.

I think it sounds interesting. It will "cause" me to shop at one of the many local farmers markets. It will "force" me to be more conscious of food labels. In the end, I hope to have a better idea of how I can support my local economy and eat better doing so!

Here's the August 1st to August 7th Facebook Triangle Localvore Challenge:

Why?
Eating local can improve the local economy, improve the environment in many ways from minimizing supply chain carbon emissions to increasing the nutrients in the local soil, and improve the social health of an area.

What is a localvore?
Its a person who prefers to eat locally grown/produced food.

How local is local?
I would say within 150 miles. That should cover most everyone that makes it to the local farmer's markets and even local seafood. It also covers many products sold at grocery stores (like the creamery milk from Fresh Market).

Why start on a Saturday?
Saturday is a traditional day for many farmer's markets in the area. These farmer's markets can provide meats, seafood, cheeses, and produce. The week I choose also coincides with a pretty good harvest week often for the farmer's market.

Does this include beverages?
Since asking people to give up coffee or sodas may be too difficult, we figured we would keep beverages out of the first challenge. If you would like, you can try some local coffee sellers this week (like 3 cups or Falls River Coffee) instead of the big national brands which will help the local economy.

Does this mean I can't have X?
The challenge is to eat as much local as possible. Some things, such as condiments and spices, may be too difficult or expensive to find locally. We would encourage you to try your best though. There are some local vendors you may not have heard of which offer great products like Bone Suckin BBQ Sauce. Additionally, there are even local mass producers of things like ready to bake cookies (Immaculate Baking Company) and other such. Other things, like flour, sugar, etc will also be limited locally. But, perhaps buying locally made breads would be possible. I've even heard Neomonde Baking Company sells greek yogurt.

I hope you will join us!