ok, I admit we are pretty crunchy around here anyway, but recently we have become ever so slightly crunchier. We are doing our best to stay on the 100 mile diet, that is we shop and cook based on what is available locally first. You can find out more about the folks who started this here. Pretty amazing stuff. Did you know the average ingredient in your dinner travelled at least 1500 miles to get to you? Think of how much energy that takes, not to mention what has to be done to food to make it "tough" enough for that kind of travel. Admittedly that means no out of season produce. No cherries in january. But it's so much better this way! I love the idea that some things are only available for a short time, eat 'em while you can. I can remember gorging myself on apricots in the summer and waiting and waiting for that first ripe watermelon. For us, we are just a little bit closer to the earth this way, a little more attuned with her seasons and moods, and a lot more healthy! We are fortunate to have fabulous farmers markets in all corners of the city, many year round. We are surrounded by excellent wine, local artisanal cheese, bread, beer and chocolate. But with planning you can do this anywhere!
Start with ONE tomato plant, see there fresh delicious homegrown tomatoes right on your porch, balcony or planting strip. I don't care what anyone says, there is no store bought tomato that can hold a candle to one warm from the sun from your own plant. Try it! C'mon! Next year you can branch out, add a zucchini, maybe some carrots. We harvested our first real salad greens last night! A delicious salad was had by all!
Host a 100 mile dinner, once, once a month, once a season. You will be amazed at what can be found locally. It's easy and delicious.
Try your hand at baking your own bread, canning your own peaches, freezing the tomatoes that you can't eat for sauce later.
Sure, we splurge on "imported"treats now and then, but by and large our diet is growing more and more local every day. And we are all better off for it! Check out your local farms and markets http://www.localharvest.org/
Start with ONE tomato plant, see there fresh delicious homegrown tomatoes right on your porch, balcony or planting strip. I don't care what anyone says, there is no store bought tomato that can hold a candle to one warm from the sun from your own plant. Try it! C'mon! Next year you can branch out, add a zucchini, maybe some carrots. We harvested our first real salad greens last night! A delicious salad was had by all!
Host a 100 mile dinner, once, once a month, once a season. You will be amazed at what can be found locally. It's easy and delicious.
Try your hand at baking your own bread, canning your own peaches, freezing the tomatoes that you can't eat for sauce later.
Sure, we splurge on "imported"treats now and then, but by and large our diet is growing more and more local every day. And we are all better off for it! Check out your local farms and markets http://www.localharvest.org/
1 comment:
We do this mostly out of luck because there is a lot of variety locally in California. Not only does it taste good, but I really think it is safer than produce coming from other countries. But then our 100 mile radius includes the site of the e coli spinach outbreak last year...
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