How to Start Eating Locally

Lately there has been a lot of buzz about the local food scene. Everyone from celebrity chefs to old hippies are jumping on the bandwagon. The reasons why these folks are turning toward a diet of locally grown foods are as diverse as the people growing and eating the foods. Some believers think that getting more people to eat local foods will mean fewer trucks transporting foods long distances, which in the end will slow global warming. These local eaters are also usually worried about the impact that today's factory farming practices are having on the land. Some are health conscious people who want their food at it's peak of freshness and in season. These are the people who shun the pale cardboard flavored tomatoes you find in December and delight in the old fashioned arts of food preservation. Still another group has the interest of local farmers and business in mind when choosing a local foods diet. This group wishes to support sustainable agriculture and keep family farms in business, they also want to promote small business and lessen their community's reliance on big box stores. No matter why a person is interested in eating local foods it can be a real challenge to actually put your intentions into action.

As with the reasons behind the drive to eat local foods there are also many levels to this localvore lifestyle. Some want to go all the way turning their backs on anything that is not raised or grown locally including things like olive oil and salt. Others will eat anything that is produced in a one hundred mile radius, this is known as the 100-Mile Diet a name that was coined by Vancouver locals Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon. . Others will commit to eating local for one meal a week or even just one week out of the year. Those who eat locally have begun to call themselves Locavores or Localvores.

For those who want to get started eating locally can seem like a daunting task. Starting out can be simple. First you can commit to eating one meal made mainly of local ingredients each week. In most areas you can find sources for local eggs, cheese, milk, and produce depending on the season. Some good places to find these items are your local farmers market, a natural or whole foods market, or even just your grocery store. Some items you may normally cook with are probably not local to your area such as olive oil or seasonings, you can use what the localvores call the Marco Polo rule for these, this rule allows for the use of spices that a traveler could have carried with him from his journeys. Some call these little indulgences wild cards. An egg frittata with roasted vegetables and cheese with some locally baked bread and fruit can be a delicious and even gourmet local dining experience.

Others will want to incorporate more local products into their diets but will find it hard to even make one totally local meal. For these folks there are still ways to support your local farmers and businesses a little at each meal. Start by either visiting the farmer's market or a farm stand. Buy items you like and are fresh. You can then build meals around these items using the other foods you pick up from the grocery store. Another option is to join a CSA or community supported agriculture program. In these programs you the customer can purchase a farm share ahead of time. The money you pay upfront provides important business capital for the farmers and insures that they have the overhead they need to stay in business. This entitles you to a share of what the farm produces each week in a given period of time. This share is usually delivered or picked up directly from the farm and includes whatever produce is fresh and available that week. These shares may also contain other items like meat, eggs, cheese, jam, wine and more depending on what your farm produces. Again you can use these items to plan meals around. Joining a CSA can be fun and a learning experience. You will often be able to try new foods you may have not seen or tried before. Many farms will give out or email a newsletter with recipes and ideas in them. Another perk is having a real connection to where your food comes from. We belong to a CSA and each week when we pick up our farm share we along with our children are welcomed to wander around the farm and visit the animals and see the gardens and fields where our food is grown. Many children and adults today are not aware of how the food we eat is produced. My children have enjoyed chasing chickens and petting bunnies all with the knowledge that these animals will one day provide food for someone. Some areas have programs that help lower income families purchase a farm share, contact your local department of agriculture, or ask around at your local farmers market to find out if such an opportunity exists in your area.

If you still would like to support local business but these options will not work for you here are a few more ideas. First Look at the foods you normally buy. Get to know where they come from and what your options are. You might be surprised that some of the local options do not cost anymore than the conventional brands you have been buying and some may only cost pennies more. We can find some prime examples of this in the dairy department. Locally produced milk, cheese and butter cost me twenty-five to thirty-five cents more than the store or national brands. This is a small cost that I feel is worthwhile. The companies I am supporting are larger companies but they are local and I am helping my food purchasing dollars stay in the state. There are many levels of this lifestyle and many reasons for choosing it, whatever you reason I hope that these tips can help you on your journey to becoming more of a local consumer.