Penny-wise Eat Local Challenge: I'm doing it

More and more I've been thinking about the notion that it's not so much eating organic that is the best, most healthful way to feed my family, but to "eat local" (within a 100-miles radius of where I live). Or try to, anyway, at least for fresh produce, fish, meat, and poultry. I've been a long-time supporter of CSA's and have always received produce from local farms are part of our grocery intake, but when money is tight, it seems that expense is always the first to be cut.

We stopped our CSA deliveries about 8 months ago when we moved from one San Francisco house to another. I love farmer's markets as well, but negotiating the crowded SF markets with two children under the age of 5 is no fun. Produce deliveries offered us a way to bring the farmer's market to our door. Since we just moved again and now are settled, I've been thinking of starting up deliveries again. I've just heard word that perhaps a year-round weekly farmer's market will open a five minute walk away from our house and if that happens, that's how we'll get our fruit, veg, and flowers. Finger's crossed!

Today's San Francisco Chronicle had a great article about eating locally on a budget and highlighted next week's Penny-wise Eat Local Challenge. The purpose of the challenge is to raise awareness about reducing the energy used to transport and process foods but also to try to debunk the notion that eating locally is expensive. Of course, to eat everything locally is more expensive, but I'm going to take the locavore challenge to see if it can't be done. Since I am a bargain shopping, coupon-clipper, I love the fact that this challenge will require us to spend no more than $144 for the week on groceries for all our meals. This is roughly what we spend now on a mixture of groceries purchased at farmer's markets, Trader Joe's, and Costco, the places where I normally shop.

The bare-bones details (check the website linked about for more details):

• April 23-29
• Eat only foods from within a 100-mile radius from where you live. This includes the ingredients that go into the food. (For this reason I'm lucky to live in California. Hello Sonoma County wines!)
• Spend about $10 per person per day.
• You can have some exemptions like coffee, tea, or salt.

This Sunday you'll find us at our local farmer's market. I usually go alone, but I'll need to bring my husband to help carry all the things I'm planning on buying. Our little market has everything from produce to eggs to fish so this should be fun!

Why don't you join me in the challenge, and we can compare notes and share recipes along the way?  If you think you might do it, let me know in the comments!  Go locavores!

P.S.  I found my camera.  Guess I'll have to hold off on that DX2 a little while longer...

Comments

[courtney]

You hit the nail on the head - you're lucky to live in CA. I currently live in Israel and don't read (or speak) Hebrew, so grocery shopping is a challenge. 2 1/2 years ago we moved from Santa Barbara - local wines! local cheese! local olive oil! local fresh caught seafood! EXCELLENT year-round farmer's markets! fresh, local strawberries available all year around except two weeks in January - to Louisville where the farmer's market only ran Apr-Sept, and let me tell you, April through late June was pretty bleak. (We could buy flowers and herbs). We did get to know our local farmers, though, and bought beef and pork to store in the extra freezer thru the winter. And Whole Foods - literally the only option other than Kroger - did sell local eggs and cheese. But it was rough.

So this is my long winded way of saying I currently can't join you, but I definitely envy you!

[maggie]

I try, but this time of year in NY it's hard to find much local produce beyond apples, potatoes and greens. But I've joined a CSA for the summer, and we just bought a whole pig - raised about 100 miles from home! I too envy your California resources. Good luck next week!

[Abi Jones]

You're lucky with the wine area. Here in DC we're within 100 miles of a bunch of horrible, horribles wines. Yick.

[foodiemama]

i have been thinking about this a lot lately too. it seems where you are as well as where i am it is so easy to find delicious local organic produce.we do the farmers markets every sunday but we go thru such an enormous amount of produce from each meal, to juicing, etc. that its so hard to keep my fridge full. we are joining a co-op so there's a start for me. have fun with it!

[Pamela]

We are lucky to live here- easy to buy local. I hope to see you at the farmers market.

On another note, do you have any chicken ideas. My kids are tired of all of our meals.

[ann]

We like to do an Eat Local week in August. It's a fun challenge. There isn't much local here yet though...we're in NH. Can't wait for the Farmer's Markets to start in May and our CSA to start in June.

[Lia]

HM, can I do it? I can try! We will have to have another playdate so you can teach me more fun things to cook.

[mbbored]

I live in central NC and my BF and I aspire to eat locally as much as possible. We have a CSA, and supplement from the farmer's market down the block and from the local Co-Op. Flour, sugar, salt & the occasional soy product are our exceptions, though we use locally baked breads when we don't bake our own, and drink wine & beer from the area. Hard? Occasionally. But it's generally delicious, makes us eat a larger variety of foods than we thought, and it's actually cheaper, as we've learned to dry our own herbs, and to can excess produce. This weekend we're making strawberry jam.