September is the Eat Local Challenge sponsored by the San Francisco-area Locavores and tracked at the Eat Local Challenge Blog.
A month-long eat local challenge is a big effort for most people. That's why I've always felt like a bit of a cheater when these challenges come along. Most of our food is local anyway. It's just how we've been living here before the Eat Local Movement had a name or made national news. Our diet is not 100% local but it can be without a lot of effort. We are in the foothills above the most prolific agricultural region in the world. What we don't grow at home or buy from a local cattle rancher, we can find pretty easily.
So I thought it was time to step things up a bit. This year for 2007 Eat Local Challenge in September:
My exemptions to the "harvest, forage, or hunt" rule may be salt and olive oil. I can source both locally but it will be too soon for the new olive crop and I don't think I can get the salt myself. I cannot imagine living without them for an entire month. :)
The whole idea of the Eat Locally Challenge is to begin to source our food directly from local producers. The food may be fresher and it come with lower transportation costs (the environmental sorts of costs). The movement focuses on organic foods but in general puts a premium on foods produced by local farmers in an environmentally sustainable fashion.
Why this isn't so crazy
I know you think this is a crazy idea and that I might lose lots of weight in September. That would be a welcome outcome, but there are other reasons it's really not that crazy.
September could be a bad month for me because of a couple of big deadlines. I could be glued to this computer for an entire month, not moving my body at all and not getting any fresh air. But with the Eat Local Challenge, becoming a computer potato will be impossible since the only way I will be able to eat is to get some exercise and air.
Exercise helps me so much in bad months that the Eat Local Challenge is a health structure for me. I'll be healthier because of the exercise and the break from the computer. I'll probably end the month in better shape than I started. I won't end the month addicted to coffee or tea. (Holy cow, I just had one of those moments where I realize how crazy this idea is - no coffee or black tea for a month.)
What's for dinner
September is not likely to be my peak month of dietary calories (yet another benefit of the challenge), but I expect I can stay nourished. Here are my food group possibilities:
(1) Meat and Eggs. The eggs may save me. We have six hens right now who are laying. We should have had about fifteen, but the fight with the bobcat is another story. I expect I need to protect these hens diligently through September. (Ironically as I finished up this article, I heard a loud scream from outside and then "he got a chicken!" We're down to five hens.)
We have a batch of three-week-old pullets (hens in training). In a pinch, I could learn how to slaughter. I've planned to learn anyway. We'll see how hungry I get.
There is always the local pest angle, many of which are likely depression-fighting foods. Of the local "pests" which are also depression busters as we learned from the contest "Pest or Dinner?" I could dine on:
* squirrel
* bear
* grasshopper
* beetles
* raccoon
* rabbit
* venison
* the bees in our wall
We also have local trout but I would have to learn to fish.
These are just a few examples of the bounty of the southern edge of the Sequoia National Forest. I will not lack opportunity, just time, skill, and perhaps guts.
(2) Dairy. We own no milk cows or goats but I do have some friends with lactating animals. I may visit them in a pinch. I haven't milked a goat since the sixth grade but I am a quick study and have a great deal of experience in the area of human lactation.
(3) Vegetables. Our garden is modest but should provide me with enough produce to keep me from starving. There are also some edible greens in the area. One issue will be onions and garlic - they are staples, we can find local sources, but none are seasonal so they would not fit the "harvest" rule. We'll plant garlic chives to get some garlic flavor in the food.
(4) Fruit. Most of our own pit fruit will be gone by September, but we might have an apple or two. Local blackberries may still be available. Friends may have some fruit as well.
(5) Grain and legumes. These food items will probably be off the list. I don't grow any and don't see going to the trouble to seek out a source to harvest myself.
(6) Herbs, salt, pepper, and spices. We have enough herbs in the garden for this project. I think I have a local salt source, though not one I can harvest myself. I'm searching for a friend with a pepper tree but can pass up the pepper in a pinch. I'll pass on the spices.
That's my plan. Who else is in?
You can find your 100-mile "local" radius at The 100 Mile Diet which has great resources for getting started.
Locavore? Loco-vore?
And who's coming over for dinner?
