Local Food: The Visual

Weekend Stockpiling

Our plans for the weekend include a visit to a farm southwest of Portland (at about 80 miles out they'll be likely the furthest source of food for us during the EcoChallenge) for our flour supply, and then a farm a little closer for dairy, eggs, and possibly a chicken or two. They are slaughtering chickens in the morning, so if they are ready in time we'll pick one up-- definitely haven't had meat that fresh before!

I just finished reading Farm City, by Novella Carpenter, and her tales of gardening and raising animals in inner city Oakland were inspiring- and I imagine the EcoChallenge will further my interest in knowing the source of the meats we eat.

As a former vegetarian (for 10 years or so), I know I can easily find plenty to eat without including meat in my diet. But, I also know that I feel a lot better when I am eating some meat so my current priority is to make the best choices around what meats I do eat. For me this generally means not eating too much meat at restaurants (because it's harder to source) and buying meat from natural food stores. The EcoChallenge has launched a new research effort for Mark and I to find out what other options are out there.

One such option is buying a portion of an animal directly from the small farm where it's raised and slaughtered. Our vegetable CSA farm has relationships with other farmers and first introduced us to this idea. At this point we're not sure we have enough freezer space, or the will to fork over that much money for meat at one time, but after a farm visit this weekend who knows...

The ingredients of our 100 mile diet

Here's what we'll be eating during the EcoChallenge:
-Homemade breads & pizzas
-All the veggies still producing in the garden-- beets, tomatoes, peppers, chard, kale. And maybe by the 2nd week the cabbage and turnips will be ready for early harvest?
-Apples & pears, and potentially still some peaches & nectarines
-In moderation, local meats, fish & dairy (we're visiting a local farm to stock up this weekend on our flour pick-up trip)
-CSA veggies-- if our share is anything like last week we'll be all set for veggies with the CSA alone!
-Frittatas, omelettes, and other egg dishes

What I haven't figured out how I will live without: chocolate. . .

The zero sugar aspect of our local diet will be very good for me, but hard!! I make a conscious effort not to eat tons of sugar, but the fact of the matter is I still love candy & chocolate... and haven't gone a day without sugar since... ever?

Success: Flour Located

We will have to get back into bread baking (and pizza making and maybe even tortilla making) come October 1, because I have successfully located a small farm that produced and processes their own wheat-- and sells small enough bags of flour for household consumption. Next Saturday we'll drive down to Corvallis (81 miles away) and pick up three 5lb. bags of flour, and some dried fava beans (the only local beans they have left-- time to experiment!).

100 Mile Wheat Search

I am about 2 hours into my search for local wheat at this point in time, and running into what is likely to be the largest stumbling block for people trying to eat locally: time. Well, that and the lack of local coffee sources :-)

After 2 hours I think I might have located a farm that grows and processes wheat within 100 miles of Portland. This means we'll be able to make bread, tortillas and pasta-- staples in our diet right now. Without a local wheat source we'll be living relatively carb-free for the duration of the EcoChallenge... But since the EcoChallenge is all about reducing your impact, eating a more meat and dairy than usual isn't sitting right with me either. So the wheat search continues...

(And the tomoatoes continue! We're probably at 120-150 pounds of tomatoes from our garden so far! This week alone we've had tomato pie (thumbs down), pasta with tomato sauce, greek salad, sundried tomatoes, and loads of cherry tomato snacks.)

Eating Local, Wedding Style

What will we do with about 40 pounds of fresh tomatoes harvested from our garden? This week at least, we'll incorporate them into our wedding celebration. We are making lasagna for 60 people, and have garden fresh tomato sauce in the works. We'll toss in whatever looks good from the garden and weekly CSA box too, and let our guests enjoy the fruits of summer too!

Now if only that plum wine that's slowly brewing in the basement was ready too!

Thank you to everyone who has made a pledge for my EcoChallenge!! I appreciate your support! And am 1/5 of the way to my fundraising goal-- if you haven't made a pledge click here for more info: www.nwei.dojiggy.com/kerryl