We are nearing the end of the Penny-Wise Eat Local Challenge week. I've been figuring out what our costs have been, which I'll post later. (As near as I can figure at this point, we came in well under the $121 allotted for the week.)
Breakfast this morning was the apple crisp from last night. It was pretty good--we added a little more honey after tasting it--but not as filling as it could have been. By the end of church we were both pretty hungry. Ben had put a loaf of sourdough in to rise before we left, so when we got home we baked it. I fried some onions and tofu and made a barbecue-esque sauce: tomato juice, honey, sauerkraut juice, salt, and a bit of flour to thicken it. We ate it with the bread and some of our canned sauerkraut. We also drank mint tea that I made from our small chocolate mint patch.
For supper I made something I'd been wanting to try all week: pizza. Or a varient of pizza, anyway. I had finally finished another small batch of cheese--it came out sort of like ricotta this time--and we had some bread left from lunch. I boiled down some of our canned tomato juice, added a bit of honey and salt, and spread it on slices of bread. I topped that with green onions, fresh oregano, frozen basil and peppers, and the cheese. After it was baked it looked like something out of a gourmet magazine, if I do say so myself. (The peppers were yellow, orange and red, the basil and onions were green, and the cheese was in little white lumps on top.) It tasted pretty good too. We had it with some of the salad from yesterday and cider.
At supper Ben and I were discussing what we liked about this week, what we had missed most, etc. I have missed peanut butter, beans, and some of those more filling foods I usually eat. Eggs fill that role, but I do get tired of them after a while. I also missed being able to cook with the spices I normally use (curry powder, cinnamon, black pepper), but what I missed most, surprisingly, was vinegar. Throughout the week I experimented with strawberry, tomato, and sauerkraut juice, cider, sorrel, even the leftover whey from cheese making. Nothing had that truly sour flavor I wanted for my salad dressing. The thing is, we live within walking distance of an apple orchard--there has to be a way to get local vinegar. We didn't find any, but if we do this again I'm going to make it a priority.
We also discussed what we would like to continue. Both of us would like to keep experimenting with the sourdough. Each of our attempts has improved, but it's still not quite where we'd like it to be. We do like baking with it though. We also discussed expanding the produce we grow. We could grow soybeans and other dry beans. That would have given us a lot more food options this week, and we'd like to try it.
Ben has been threatening to convert to Judaism for the evening so that he can end the day at sundown and eat his popcorn, so I'm going to go check on local snack possibilities to forestall this.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Trading local
Well, brunch this morning in Richmond was delicious: Fair Trade coffee with local milk, crepes with (last year's) cherries from my sister's tree (best cherries ever!), maple syrup and honey, and quiche which we had brought from Harrisonburg.
Before we left, my sister and I did a little trading of local foods. She gave me a pound or so of tofu from Twin Oaks, a community near Charlottesville (their soybeans are Virginia grown too), and a container of her frozen cherries(!). I gave her 5 eggs from our hens and the leftover quiche. I have a scheme to try some kind of tofu-barbeque sandwiches for lunch tomorrow, if our sourdough sponge will cooperate. Ben has been carefully nurturing it, but it's very slow rising.
On the way home from Richmond we stopped at the grocery store and bought more local apples. Back at home we did our first major picking of greens from our garden--spinach, arugula, lettuce, as well as some radishes--and made a big salad for late lunch/early supper. Ben made a dressing from tomato juice, cider, onion, and a bit of Virginia wine we purchased earlier in the week.
Having no bread thwarted some of my other food ideas, so we snacked this evening--I ate the rest of the homemade cheese and crackers, Ben scrambled an egg with a bit of the tofu, and we both had some pumpkin bread. I also made some apple crisp for breakfast tomorrow, using wheat flour instead of oats. Hope it'll be good.
Before we left, my sister and I did a little trading of local foods. She gave me a pound or so of tofu from Twin Oaks, a community near Charlottesville (their soybeans are Virginia grown too), and a container of her frozen cherries(!). I gave her 5 eggs from our hens and the leftover quiche. I have a scheme to try some kind of tofu-barbeque sandwiches for lunch tomorrow, if our sourdough sponge will cooperate. Ben has been carefully nurturing it, but it's very slow rising.
On the way home from Richmond we stopped at the grocery store and bought more local apples. Back at home we did our first major picking of greens from our garden--spinach, arugula, lettuce, as well as some radishes--and made a big salad for late lunch/early supper. Ben made a dressing from tomato juice, cider, onion, and a bit of Virginia wine we purchased earlier in the week.
Having no bread thwarted some of my other food ideas, so we snacked this evening--I ate the rest of the homemade cheese and crackers, Ben scrambled an egg with a bit of the tofu, and we both had some pumpkin bread. I also made some apple crisp for breakfast tomorrow, using wheat flour instead of oats. Hope it'll be good.
Friday's food
Yesterday brought a new test to our Eat Local week: food while traveling.
We began the day with french toast: sourdough bread, eggs, milk, butter, maple syrup, and honey. Lunch was the quiche from last night (quite tasty) and canned sauerkraut from last fall. I don't know what we would do without our hens. I've eaten more eggs this week in various forms than ever before.
After work today Ben and I drove to Richmond, VA to visit my sister and brother-in-law. Time was tight and I hadn't planned what we would eat for supper on the way there. I brought the chapatis and some pumpkin bread, which we ate in the car, and a cooler of other food for breakfast today. (My sister was interested in the Eat Local week, but had her senior dance concert this weekend and understandably didn't have a lot of time for cooking, so we offered to provide breakfast today.)
The chapatis and pumpkin bread didn't seem like quite a sufficient supper, and we debated making an exception and stopping somewhere. We ended up going out for (non-local) ice cream after the dance concert. It was very good (thanks Jay!), but as I was eating I thought about what foods I have been missing the most this week. Peanut butter is high on the list, as are rice and beans. (I could buy Virginia peanuts and make my own, but I refuse to pay $12.99 for the 32 oz box of peanuts in the shell--the only local ones I could find.)
I'm going to go see if we can start breakfast. My sister tells me she has frozen cherries from their cherry tree that we can put on our crepes!
We began the day with french toast: sourdough bread, eggs, milk, butter, maple syrup, and honey. Lunch was the quiche from last night (quite tasty) and canned sauerkraut from last fall. I don't know what we would do without our hens. I've eaten more eggs this week in various forms than ever before.
After work today Ben and I drove to Richmond, VA to visit my sister and brother-in-law. Time was tight and I hadn't planned what we would eat for supper on the way there. I brought the chapatis and some pumpkin bread, which we ate in the car, and a cooler of other food for breakfast today. (My sister was interested in the Eat Local week, but had her senior dance concert this weekend and understandably didn't have a lot of time for cooking, so we offered to provide breakfast today.)
The chapatis and pumpkin bread didn't seem like quite a sufficient supper, and we debated making an exception and stopping somewhere. We ended up going out for (non-local) ice cream after the dance concert. It was very good (thanks Jay!), but as I was eating I thought about what foods I have been missing the most this week. Peanut butter is high on the list, as are rice and beans. (I could buy Virginia peanuts and make my own, but I refuse to pay $12.99 for the 32 oz box of peanuts in the shell--the only local ones I could find.)
I'm going to go see if we can start breakfast. My sister tells me she has frozen cherries from their cherry tree that we can put on our crepes!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Quiche and chapatis
As I write today's post on our local eating, I am enjoying a strawberry milkshake: frozen strawberries from last year's garden, local milk and honey, blended in the blender. One of the positives of this eat local challenge is that it gives me a good excuse to eat some of the preserved garden food that we usually hoard and ration! (Ben has chosen to raid our sauerkraut supply for his bedtime snack. The challenge also leads to some rather creative menu options.)
For breakfast this morning we had sourdough bread toast and fried eggs from our hens, as well as some local apple cider. Lunch was leftovers from last night's supper, as usual.
Ben was at class this evening, so I made supper just for myself: some of the larger pieces of wheat that I had sifted out our our bag of flour, cooked with milk and a bit of honey. It was pretty good--if I make it again I'll try toasting the wheat first.
It's been interesting to me how many different things one can cook out of varying amounts of flour, butter, water/milk, and a bit of salt and/or honey. Thus far we've had sourdough bread, chapatis, dumplings (though I guess those included eggs), wheat crackers, grape nuts, soufflé crust, and the cooked cereal I had tonight. I'm planning to make crepes over the weekend as well.
My evening baking tonight was more chapatis and two quiches. We'll eat some of the quiche for lunch tomorrow, and the other later in the weekend. We will be traveling tomorrow over supper, and I don't yet know what we'll eat. The chapatis will likely be part of it; they'll be easy to eat in the car. I'm hoping inspiration will strike before tomorrow afternoon.
Here's my invented quiche recipe. I'm hoping it will be good despite the lack of cheese.
Crusts (enough for 2):
2/3 cup butter
2 cups whole wheat flour
water
Cut butter into flour. Add water, a few drops at a time, while stirring, until crust begins to clump together. Press into two pie pans.
Filling:
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups chopped green onions
4 cups chopped spinach
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
2 teaspoons salt
Saute onions in butter until soft, about 5 minutes. Add spinach and stir until wilted. Divide between crusts in pie pans. Beat eggs, milk and salt together (I used a blender). Pour half into each pie pan over spinach. Bake in preheated oven at 425° for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350° and bake 30 minutes more or until center is set.
For breakfast this morning we had sourdough bread toast and fried eggs from our hens, as well as some local apple cider. Lunch was leftovers from last night's supper, as usual.
Ben was at class this evening, so I made supper just for myself: some of the larger pieces of wheat that I had sifted out our our bag of flour, cooked with milk and a bit of honey. It was pretty good--if I make it again I'll try toasting the wheat first.
It's been interesting to me how many different things one can cook out of varying amounts of flour, butter, water/milk, and a bit of salt and/or honey. Thus far we've had sourdough bread, chapatis, dumplings (though I guess those included eggs), wheat crackers, grape nuts, soufflé crust, and the cooked cereal I had tonight. I'm planning to make crepes over the weekend as well.
My evening baking tonight was more chapatis and two quiches. We'll eat some of the quiche for lunch tomorrow, and the other later in the weekend. We will be traveling tomorrow over supper, and I don't yet know what we'll eat. The chapatis will likely be part of it; they'll be easy to eat in the car. I'm hoping inspiration will strike before tomorrow afternoon.
Here's my invented quiche recipe. I'm hoping it will be good despite the lack of cheese.
Crusts (enough for 2):
2/3 cup butter
2 cups whole wheat flour
water
Cut butter into flour. Add water, a few drops at a time, while stirring, until crust begins to clump together. Press into two pie pans.
Filling:
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups chopped green onions
4 cups chopped spinach
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
2 teaspoons salt
Saute onions in butter until soft, about 5 minutes. Add spinach and stir until wilted. Divide between crusts in pie pans. Beat eggs, milk and salt together (I used a blender). Pour half into each pie pan over spinach. Bake in preheated oven at 425° for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350° and bake 30 minutes more or until center is set.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Local food plug
For those in the Harrisonburg area this Saturday afternoon, the Friendly City Food Co-op (FC2) will have a table downtown on Court Square. FC2 is a group of people working to open a food co-op in Harrisonburg which will feature local foods. They need more members in order to open and have asked me to help spread the word. If you'd like to have more options to buy locally, become a member and help support the cause!
Onion-vegetable soup
Today was a bit easier as far as cooking goes. For breakfast we ate pumpkin bread (baked last night) with our "exception" tea. Lunch was leftover salad, crackers, and a bit of the cheese from yesterday. I also ate a few of the chestnuts for a snack.
For supper we had sourdough bread (baked this morning in the bread machine), butter, honey and soup. Here is my soup recipe:
4 cups green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup frozen green beans
2 cups frozen pumpkin
1 quart tomato juice
1 tablespoon fresh oregano
1 teaspoon fresh lemon thyme
1 tablespoon frozen basil, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
1 hot pepper, chopped
Sauté onions in butter until soft. Add green beans and stir. In blender, purée pumpkin, oregano, and lemon thyme with half the tomato juice. Add to soup with remainder of tomato juice. Add water if desired. Heat until hot. Add basil, salt, and hot pepper. Stir and serve.
Our sourdough bread had a better flavor this time (I made a test batch last week), but it's still very dense and heavy. (Ben and I refer to it as "dwarf bread", which may amuse those familiar with Terry Pratchett's books.)
For supper we had sourdough bread (baked this morning in the bread machine), butter, honey and soup. Here is my soup recipe:
4 cups green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup frozen green beans
2 cups frozen pumpkin
1 quart tomato juice
1 tablespoon fresh oregano
1 teaspoon fresh lemon thyme
1 tablespoon frozen basil, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
1 hot pepper, chopped
Sauté onions in butter until soft. Add green beans and stir. In blender, purée pumpkin, oregano, and lemon thyme with half the tomato juice. Add to soup with remainder of tomato juice. Add water if desired. Heat until hot. Add basil, salt, and hot pepper. Stir and serve.
Our sourdough bread had a better flavor this time (I made a test batch last week), but it's still very dense and heavy. (Ben and I refer to it as "dwarf bread", which may amuse those familiar with Terry Pratchett's books.)
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Cooking and more cooking
The preparation for today's meals began yesterday, just like Monday. I am finding that cooking/preparing to cook is taking a great deal more time than usual. I always considered myself a "slow food" cook--I don't buy canned soups or vegetables, we never have prepackaged meals; we rarely even just make sandwiches. But this is a whole different level.
For breakfast this morning I had grape nuts that we made last night. It's a pretty simple recipe, which I adapted for our ingredients: whole wheat flour, milk, cider (the original calls for buttermilk), a bit of salt and maple syrup. This dough is spread on a cookie sheet and baked until crisp, then broken/chopped into pieces. This turned out to be the challenging part: while Ben was valiently pounding at it with the rolling pin, one of the bowls he had already filled fell off the counter and straight into the trash can. Ben very kindly gave me the remaining bowl and ate leftover soufflé. The grape nuts were more bite size than the traditional ones, but very crunchy and tasty. (I'm currently resisting the urge to eat the rest of them.)
Before work I also saw that the milk I had left out had thickened, so I set in an old pillowcase in a strainer to separate for cheese.
For lunch we took leftover buttons from last night (see Monday's post), apples, and I also took a few chestnuts which we had had in the freezer from last year.
I made a stop at the farmer's market this morning and picked up a bag of spinach, and after work bought more milk and butter.
For supper Ben and I made a salad with some of the spinach, dandelions, chives, arugula from the garden, and hardboiled eggs. I made a dressing out of strawberry juice, honey, salt, and lemon thyme from our herb bed. It wasn't as sour as I would have liked, but not bad. We also ate some of the wheat thins we made last night with cheese that I started this morning. I mixed the separated curd with salt, basil, and chives. I loved it--Ben wasn't so sure, but he generally doesn't like soft cheese.
My last cooking project for the day was pumpkin bread for snacks and breakfast tomorrow. I used frozen pumpkin, eggs, honey, butter, salt and flour. It didn't rise, since it didn't have any baking powder, but Ben says it's good anyway.
I just realized I have one more cooking project to do--put sourdough in the bread machine to rise overnight. So here I will end my writing for today.
For breakfast this morning I had grape nuts that we made last night. It's a pretty simple recipe, which I adapted for our ingredients: whole wheat flour, milk, cider (the original calls for buttermilk), a bit of salt and maple syrup. This dough is spread on a cookie sheet and baked until crisp, then broken/chopped into pieces. This turned out to be the challenging part: while Ben was valiently pounding at it with the rolling pin, one of the bowls he had already filled fell off the counter and straight into the trash can. Ben very kindly gave me the remaining bowl and ate leftover soufflé. The grape nuts were more bite size than the traditional ones, but very crunchy and tasty. (I'm currently resisting the urge to eat the rest of them.)
Before work I also saw that the milk I had left out had thickened, so I set in an old pillowcase in a strainer to separate for cheese.
For lunch we took leftover buttons from last night (see Monday's post), apples, and I also took a few chestnuts which we had had in the freezer from last year.
I made a stop at the farmer's market this morning and picked up a bag of spinach, and after work bought more milk and butter.
For supper Ben and I made a salad with some of the spinach, dandelions, chives, arugula from the garden, and hardboiled eggs. I made a dressing out of strawberry juice, honey, salt, and lemon thyme from our herb bed. It wasn't as sour as I would have liked, but not bad. We also ate some of the wheat thins we made last night with cheese that I started this morning. I mixed the separated curd with salt, basil, and chives. I loved it--Ben wasn't so sure, but he generally doesn't like soft cheese.
My last cooking project for the day was pumpkin bread for snacks and breakfast tomorrow. I used frozen pumpkin, eggs, honey, butter, salt and flour. It didn't rise, since it didn't have any baking powder, but Ben says it's good anyway.
I just realized I have one more cooking project to do--put sourdough in the bread machine to rise overnight. So here I will end my writing for today.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Buttons to the rescue
Well, we're almost through our first day of local eating. I have spent a great deal more time preparing food than I normally do, as well as much more time spent planning, but we've had delicious meals!
I actually started the cooking last night, preparing food for lunch today. (Ben and I both pack lunches for work and generally take leftovers.) I made chappatis (a flat, fried bread) with some of our whole wheat from the local mill, butter from a local dairy that sells to supermarkets, and water. I would normally make a curry to go with these, but since none of the spices are local I made a vegetable sauce (curry without the curry, as I told a friend at work). I fried onions from our garden with hot peppers from the freezer, then added a puree of frozen pumpkin, canned tomato juice, and a bit of apple cider from a local orchard. I also added a few frozen green beans. We each took this, along with an apple (Virginia grown, from the grocery store), for our lunches today. It was quite tasty, though I missed the salt somewhat.
For breakfast I tried a new recipe: Strawberry Soufflé from the Simply in Season cookbook. I used more whole wheat, eggs from our hens, milk, butter and a bit of maple syrup. After it was baked we topped it with frozen strawberries from last season. We also had one of our exceptions to the local rules: tea.
Supper took some hard thinking and searching through cookbooks. Several of my planned meals for the week involved cheese, which I was planning to get from the farmer's market but have not been able to find. Maybe it's too early for the goats to be milking yet. I have started some milk to sour to make some soft cheese, but it's not ready yet. So without cheese several of my planned meals (pizza, quiche) were not to be. My sourdough starter also didn't look ready, so no bread.
At last I decided on a meal my mother and grandmother used to make. The English translation of the Low German(?) is "buttons." (I won't attempt to spell the Low German here.) [Note: I found out later from my mother that this is actually a Swiss meal.] It's a dumpling made of flour, eggs and milk, boiled and then served with stewed tomatoes. I had all the ingredients for the buttons, so I made them, fried some more green onions in butter, added a can of tomatoes from our supply, and just a bit of honey. I also made applesauce from some of the apples.
I've been pleased with the meals so far, though they definitely take more work at this point. And, somewhat to my dismay, we have decided to declare an exemption for salt. It's in the local butter we bought, it's in our home-canned tomatoes, and, well, some things just really don't taste good without it!
This evening we're going to make some homemade grape nuts for breakfast tomorrow and some wheat crackers for snacks. The farmer's market is also open tomorrow morning, so I plan to stop by before work and see what's available.
I actually started the cooking last night, preparing food for lunch today. (Ben and I both pack lunches for work and generally take leftovers.) I made chappatis (a flat, fried bread) with some of our whole wheat from the local mill, butter from a local dairy that sells to supermarkets, and water. I would normally make a curry to go with these, but since none of the spices are local I made a vegetable sauce (curry without the curry, as I told a friend at work). I fried onions from our garden with hot peppers from the freezer, then added a puree of frozen pumpkin, canned tomato juice, and a bit of apple cider from a local orchard. I also added a few frozen green beans. We each took this, along with an apple (Virginia grown, from the grocery store), for our lunches today. It was quite tasty, though I missed the salt somewhat.
For breakfast I tried a new recipe: Strawberry Soufflé from the Simply in Season cookbook. I used more whole wheat, eggs from our hens, milk, butter and a bit of maple syrup. After it was baked we topped it with frozen strawberries from last season. We also had one of our exceptions to the local rules: tea.
Supper took some hard thinking and searching through cookbooks. Several of my planned meals for the week involved cheese, which I was planning to get from the farmer's market but have not been able to find. Maybe it's too early for the goats to be milking yet. I have started some milk to sour to make some soft cheese, but it's not ready yet. So without cheese several of my planned meals (pizza, quiche) were not to be. My sourdough starter also didn't look ready, so no bread.
At last I decided on a meal my mother and grandmother used to make. The English translation of the Low German(?) is "buttons." (I won't attempt to spell the Low German here.) [Note: I found out later from my mother that this is actually a Swiss meal.] It's a dumpling made of flour, eggs and milk, boiled and then served with stewed tomatoes. I had all the ingredients for the buttons, so I made them, fried some more green onions in butter, added a can of tomatoes from our supply, and just a bit of honey. I also made applesauce from some of the apples.
I've been pleased with the meals so far, though they definitely take more work at this point. And, somewhat to my dismay, we have decided to declare an exemption for salt. It's in the local butter we bought, it's in our home-canned tomatoes, and, well, some things just really don't taste good without it!
This evening we're going to make some homemade grape nuts for breakfast tomorrow and some wheat crackers for snacks. The farmer's market is also open tomorrow morning, so I plan to stop by before work and see what's available.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Our Exceptions
The impossibles: These are things that can't be grown, found or produced locally. Many of them were very costly just a few centuries ago, before the advent of global sea trade. We now understand why.
- coffee: We buy fair trade, organic, shade grown beans. And no, we can't live without them.
- tea: As above, we buy fairly traded, organic teas.
- chocolate: Specifically, about an ounce of dark Lindt chocolate offered me by a coworker. I have the self control of a chicken.
- salt: We're told that the first salt produced in the New World came from the Chesapeake Bay but don't know of a source that sells it today. There are also salt mines in West Virginia but their product is used for industrial purposes not human consumption. As she said earlier, Sarah conceded only because the butter we've found locally has salt.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Local food research
Over the past few weeks I have been researching local foods in preparation for our participation in the Penny-Wise Eat Local Challenge. I've inventoried our stores of canned and frozen local produce, bought a 25 lb. bag of whole wheat flour from a local mill, started sourdough for the first time so we can make bread (can't buy yeast), and asked at local stores about the origins of several foods.
I've been surprised in several ways during this process. First, I was pleased to find how much food we actually grow and store ourselves. If we had to, we could eat fairly well solely from our own garden and stores of food. Our three hens are laying 2-3 eggs per day, we have onions and greens growing in the garden (and yard), and have home-canned or frozen pumpkin, pickles, tomato sauce and juice, salsa, jam, peaches, and berries, not to mention enough frozen hot peppers to last a lifetime!
However, this inventory process brought up a second surprise that presents a difficulty. Certainly not all, but many of our home-preserved foods contain sugar, salt or spices that are not local. To truly eat all local food, we should not eat our jam, pickles, sauerkraut, salsa, or peaches. I also encountered this problem when trying to purchase local products. Should we consider the goat cheese at the farmers market local if it contains salt?
Next, looking for local products that we do not grow has been difficult. Many foods that I normally buy are labeled with the location of the parent company of the brand, with no way of knowing where the food actually came from without extensive research. Others appear to be locally produced, but on closer inspection come from much farther away. For example, in my search for local salt I found a company located on the Chesapeake Bay (just barely within our 100 miles) that sells seasonings, including sea salt. I emailed them to ask whether their salt was actually harvested from the bay. A representative replied that sadly, it was not, and it was her understanding that no salt is harvested in Virginia. Another example occurred when I visited a mill advertising locally milled grain. Though they sell a wide variety of flours and grains that they grind, only their wheat is actually grown locally.
Finally, though perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised by this, local people have been a better source of information than my Internet research. Many local food producers are by nature small and have a limited or nonexistent web presence. I have found by talking to friends or driving to local stores where to get butter and maple syrup, what's likely to be at the farmers market, offers of beef, and rumors of a cow owner who sells cow shares for milk.
With two days to go, the search continues...
I've been surprised in several ways during this process. First, I was pleased to find how much food we actually grow and store ourselves. If we had to, we could eat fairly well solely from our own garden and stores of food. Our three hens are laying 2-3 eggs per day, we have onions and greens growing in the garden (and yard), and have home-canned or frozen pumpkin, pickles, tomato sauce and juice, salsa, jam, peaches, and berries, not to mention enough frozen hot peppers to last a lifetime!
However, this inventory process brought up a second surprise that presents a difficulty. Certainly not all, but many of our home-preserved foods contain sugar, salt or spices that are not local. To truly eat all local food, we should not eat our jam, pickles, sauerkraut, salsa, or peaches. I also encountered this problem when trying to purchase local products. Should we consider the goat cheese at the farmers market local if it contains salt?
Next, looking for local products that we do not grow has been difficult. Many foods that I normally buy are labeled with the location of the parent company of the brand, with no way of knowing where the food actually came from without extensive research. Others appear to be locally produced, but on closer inspection come from much farther away. For example, in my search for local salt I found a company located on the Chesapeake Bay (just barely within our 100 miles) that sells seasonings, including sea salt. I emailed them to ask whether their salt was actually harvested from the bay. A representative replied that sadly, it was not, and it was her understanding that no salt is harvested in Virginia. Another example occurred when I visited a mill advertising locally milled grain. Though they sell a wide variety of flours and grains that they grind, only their wheat is actually grown locally.
Finally, though perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised by this, local people have been a better source of information than my Internet research. Many local food producers are by nature small and have a limited or nonexistent web presence. I have found by talking to friends or driving to local stores where to get butter and maple syrup, what's likely to be at the farmers market, offers of beef, and rumors of a cow owner who sells cow shares for milk.
With two days to go, the search continues...
Introduction
Ben and I have decided to participate in the April 2007 Penny-Wise Eat Local Challenge. During the week of April 23-29 we will be attempting to eat all local foods and comparing the costs to our usual food budget. Here are the details of what we will be doing:
Our definition of "local" for this challenge is within a 100-mile radius of our home. The exemptions we will be claiming are for coffee and tea, which are impossible to buy locally. A few other items, such as salt and olive oil, are still up for debate.
The average American food budget for our family size and income level is $121 per week. We don't spend nearly that much--it's closer to half that. However, we do grow a lot of the produce we eat and have laying hens. Our goal for the week is to stay under the American average, and to see how close we come to our own average.
When we buy items in bulk, we will calculate the cost for the portion of the item we use during the week. Food that we grow or produce ourselves we will consider "free" and not include in our week's costs. We are also only eating "one-generation local": we will consider milk, eggs, and meat to be local if the animal was raised locally, whether or not the animal feed was locally produced.
We expect the week to be challenging and educational. If you have questions drop us a comment or email--we'd love to hear your thoughts.
Our definition of "local" for this challenge is within a 100-mile radius of our home. The exemptions we will be claiming are for coffee and tea, which are impossible to buy locally. A few other items, such as salt and olive oil, are still up for debate.
The average American food budget for our family size and income level is $121 per week. We don't spend nearly that much--it's closer to half that. However, we do grow a lot of the produce we eat and have laying hens. Our goal for the week is to stay under the American average, and to see how close we come to our own average.
When we buy items in bulk, we will calculate the cost for the portion of the item we use during the week. Food that we grow or produce ourselves we will consider "free" and not include in our week's costs. We are also only eating "one-generation local": we will consider milk, eggs, and meat to be local if the animal was raised locally, whether or not the animal feed was locally produced.
We expect the week to be challenging and educational. If you have questions drop us a comment or email--we'd love to hear your thoughts.
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