I am beginning a journey tomorrow that I am excited to document via a short term blog. I am embarking on a journey of eating only food that has not traveled more than 100 miles from field to my table. This experiment will begin on May 5th and end October 1st. Even as I write this I have no idea what I will eat for the next couple months. Living in South Dakota makes it difficult to have abundant choices when it comes to fresh, local fruits and vegetables. My plan is to purchase all my food for the week at a farmers market on Saturday mornings. If I misjudge how much food I need to eat, I will get some more at a farmers market on Tuesday afternoon. (those are the only options that I know of in Sioux Falls) I am traveling a couple of times this summer, and while I am traveling, I will attempt to eat as locally as possible, I am not going to be legalistic about it while staying with friends and family. I have no interest in being a guest at someones house that adds stress by following a difficult and often expensive way of eating. And truly, the crux of this experiment is to see how possible it is to eat locally in South Dakota.
Making this a little more difficult for me mentally is the stress of training for a half marathon in June and a full marathon in October on a diet like this.
Wendell Berry and Michael Pollan both agree that we are co-creators of the food system in which we are a part of. The food system that I am a part of is very broken, unsustainable and unhealthy. As a Christian I believe that we are called to live out our values in all areas of our lives. There is often large areas of disconnect in our lives when we don't live out our values in a holistic manner. Thanks to the writing of Berry and Pollan, I am convinced that eating food out of season that travels thousands of miles, foods that are highly processed, and food grown or raised in ways that are unsustainable and inhumane do not mesh with my values.
I will attempt to document this experience well. I will check in daily sharing what I ate and how I feel etc.
Here's to a holistically healthy experiment!
Track your $, I am interested in the cost difference.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to you! I personally couldn't do it. One word... COFFEE
How exciting! I'm looking forward to following your progress. I hope you have a one of the DRA Local Foods directories you'll probably get alot of use out of it :)
ReplyDeleteI am also interested in how much it will cost, I will keep track of that information and share it. I have heard it is comparable, but I guess I will find out!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip on the DRA, I imagine that I will get very acquainted with it by the end of this journey.
Wow! Good for you! Our family consumes much of our food from local vendors. My husband operates a CSA that provides fresh veg to our CSA members each week from our beautiful garden in rural Hartford. We also get our meat delivered from a man we call the Meat Cowboy. He delivers grass fed organic beef and lamb products right to our door and for a much lower cost than the co op or farmers market. We also get our raw organic grass fed cow's milk from a local guy...7th generation dairy farmer. You can find local products at the Natural Foods Co op here in Sioux Falls, and Pomegranate market also carries local fair. Oh my..I am so excited for you! Please contact me if you need any info on local food, for this has been a passion of ours for a couple of years now. Our veggie blog is here.. http://woodlotacres.blogspot.com or here on facebook... http://www.facebook.com/pages/Woodlot-Acres/196264340400089
ReplyDeleteGood Luck and we look forward to following you on your journey!
Tera Regnier