Your Stories
So you're having a crack at the 100-Mile Diet. Tell us about your first meal. What local foods did you discover? Where did you find them? And what did you have to do without?
Feeding the Children in Massachusetts
LUNENBURG, MA — June 23, 2006
By Pat Lanni
I read about your trial and was very impressed. I am a farmer in Massachusetts, and have recently been marketing our produce to schools, colleges and institutions throughout the state. There is a huge movement throughout America to feed everyone (and especially children) healthier, fresher foods, grown locally. Bravo to you, and hopefully your story will inspire more folks to support local farmers and local businesses wherever the y may be.
Loco for Local in Kelowna
KELOWNA, BC — June 09, 2006
By Cathryn Wellner
My favourite local meal was not my first “100-mile” meal, I confess, as I’ve long bought local whenever possible. Here was what I ate after last week’s trip to the farmers’ market: a miner’s lettuce salad topped with asparagus from Armstrong, herbed feta from Jerseyland, and completed with Little Creek dressing (the best anywhere, I’m sure). The bread came from Fred’s Bread & Jam Bakery in Penticton (I bought it at the market), while the eggs for the omelet were from Jerseyland, as was the butter. The wine was from hillside vineyards on the Naramata Bench. Completely local, completely fabulous.
Next Generation of 100-Milers in Canada
Vancouver, BC — May 29, 2006
By Krystal Lebreton
I am planning a 100-mile food challenge for a group called Governexx, an organization for youth federal government employees. We hope that participants will become more aware of the importance of eating locally and may ultimately influence federal policy. Thanks for doing what you do, it’s very inspiring.
The Next Organic in Ontario
LONDON, ON — May 29, 2006
By Cathy McGregor-Smith
We have been certified organic farmers for over 20 years. In our newsletter this year, we wrote about the 100-Mile Diet and that local is the new organic. We are encouraging all our customers to eat local, and to prepare and store food for the off season. In the past the farms surrounding cities provided them with all their needs.
Our first market was last weekend, and we were talking about your movement.We were swamped with people who were hungry for fresh food. They had been eating imported organic all winter and were lined up for our spinach, lettuce, salad greens, asparagus, meats and more. We sell “salsa kits” with everything included (tomatoes, garlic, onions, and peppers in correct amounts). We give them the recipe, and all they need to add is 1 cup vinegar. The next week several customers come back with a sample jar for us to try.
Gardening With Faith in Vancouver
EAST VANCOUVER, BC — May 4, 2006
By Elsie Wiebe
I was walking along a street with a friend and her former neighbour was out in his yard, tending his incredible garden of heritage apples and other fruits. He showed us a variety of hearty olive that he grows in his small backyard. So, it can be done. You may not have to lose olives to keep up your commitment to local fare. On second thought . . . guess it depends if you can get local salt to cure the olives.
Pigging Out In the Pacific Northwest
CASCADIA — May 4th, 2006
By Podchef
For the last five or so years I have been living the 100-mile diet in part. We grow as much food as we can–eggs, chicken, and veggies through the spring and summer. We also shop locally on the mainland and buy goods produced as close to home as possible. Today I am receiving half of a pig grown next door at a neighbor’s farm. We also use their mustard and raw milk.
I had never thought of trying to go 100 percent local before, but I am moving closer to it every day. Some of the organic chicken feed and other organic goods travel a bit to reach me. I think I’ll start compiling a list of local products like butter and such just to help me be able to source them.
We’re all pretty fortunate here in the Pacific Northwest because we have the bounty of the land and sea to back up our “locavore” leanings . However, that shouldn’t prevent others from sourcing fish from their local lakes, streams and rivers, or foraging in field and forest.
A Very Purple Meal in Vermont
INTERVALE, VT — May 4th, 2006
By Raisin Toastie
My most memorable local meal was eaten in Vermont, last fall, during a visit with family. We cooked up roasted root veggies, all from farms around Intervale (a small community near Burlington.) There were golden beets, rutabaga, turnips and purple fingering potatoes, along with an heirloom purple cauliflower and Japanese eggplant.
I attempted to eat local in NYC all winter, and missed bananas a lot.
England Is Sweet, But No Apple a Day
LANCASTER, ENGLAND — May 4th, 2006
By Katie Alcock
I went to Booth’s, the local chain of supermarkets that prides itself on buying food “from the region”, and came up with quite a few interesting things: local yoghurt, lemon curd, English wine (with a Bronze medal no less), sticky toffee pudding ice cream, a brand of soup that is made 40 miles away and “tries to use local ingredients where possible”–but no local fruit at all. I have a lead for an apple day about 25 miles away this weekend so I’ll try that–at least I got some local apple juice. While they label their fresh food nicely, they don’t even name the country of origin on their own-brand dry food (barley, lentils, dried fruit, that sort of thing).
Best meal of the week so far: Tuesday’s lunch, which was oatcakes from the North, cottage cheese ditto, yoghurt from 20 miles away (sweetened with apple juice, too, so no cane sugar!), and an apple from Kent.
New York is great, Florida is the pits
SARASOTA, FL — April 29th, 2006
By Judy Pokras
WHEN I lived in New York City — which, after all, is not exactly farmland — I had no trouble finding locally grown organic produce, even in winter, when upstate New York farmers brought root vegetables into Union Square’s greenmarket.
When I moved to Sarasota, Florida, about three and a half years ago, I thought it would be a paradise for locally grown produce. I couldn’t have been more wrong! The local health food stores, which include a few small chains plus Whole Foods Market, rarely sell anything grown in the state of Florida. In fact, most produce (organic and conventional) in health food stores and the supermarkets comes from other countries. Like organic grapes from South Africa. I seem to remember organic grapes coming from California when I lived in New York. Yes, California is 3,000 miles from NYC, not 100 miles. But at least it’s the same country.
In answer to my questions, the USDA wrote me that before produce is allowed to be imported into the US, it may be subject to fumigation, irradiation, steaming or dipping in hot water. As a longtime raw vegan (and the founder and editor of rawfoodsnewsmagazine.com), I don’t want to eat produce that has been cooked or fumigated or irradiated. Besides, the USDA said there’s no way for consumers to know what’s been done to the imported produce unless they happen to see the boxes it was shipped in, and even the boxes don’t always reveal the whole story.
I live in an apartment, so I don’t have land I can use to grow my own. Even if I did, I’d have to drop everything else I’m doing and become a full-time farmer, which isn’t practical, and the growing season here doesn’t allow for a wide enough variety of produce year-round. All of this makes me want to move to California.
And don’t get me started on the lack of raw food restaurants in the entire state of Florida! California has more than 20. California, here I come!
