Letter of encouragement from JB MacKinnon (author of Plenty)

Dear Eat Local Challengers,

So you are about to become locavores. Did the people at Sustainable Ballard put you up to this? I know them–real troublemakers. But now that you’ve signed up, let me give you some idea of what to expect. I’ve been at this for three years now, so I guess I count as a grizzled old veteran.

Expect to be truly challenged. It’s true that the local foods movement is revolutionizing the way people eat, but for now, the simple act of eating foods produced by our neighbors on the landscapes we live in can still be surprising hard to do. As a society, we spent most of the last century tearing down our local foods systems; building them up again is going to take some effort. You are now a part of that effort.

Expect an adventure. You will eat new foods, try new flavors. You will have moments of triumph and tragedy in the kitchen. You will find yourself asking questions: Which is more important, organic or local? Who really benefits from the global food trade? Can I handle knowing where my meat comes from? You are on a journey to a strange place called “home.”

Expect to eat good food. Eating and drinking is one of the great pleasures in life. Somewhere along the line we forgot that it can be that way at every meal. It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. What chef can do better than butter and salt on corn-on-the-cob, or fresh crab, or a double-handful of perfect blackberries?

Expect to be changed. Eating locally is about thinking just as much as it is about eating. You may see your community with new eyes, or the natural world around you. Maybe you’ll question the way you use your time, or spend your money. Even if it’s in the smallest ways, you will not be the same person at the end of your challenge that you were at the beginning.

Expect to become a part of the story of your food. This one I can’t explain. But read this line when the challenge is all over and I believe, I truly believe, that it will make a beautiful kind of sense.

Happy eating!
J.B. MacKinnon
Co-author (with Alisa Smith)
Plenty: Eating Locally on the 100-Mile Diet

Posted on August 19th, 2008 by jennifer
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Lesa Sullivan’s comments on the Conservation Magazine article

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/forkitover/archives/146485.asp

Posted on August 19th, 2008 by jennifer
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Local Food Gets More Press

Check out this article by Wylie Harris:  Lawn to Farm: Suburbia’s Silver Lining.

More than with the article itself, which is pretty good, I’m impressed with the number (24 as of today) and content of comments posted by readers.  More evidence that local food is becoming a mainstream topic all across the country.  And look how many mentions of Cuba and of “The Power of Community” (which Sustainable Ballard screened last spring at the Sunset Hill Community Association, too).

There is only one aspect of the article that I found a little less thought through:  when suburbanites water 30 million acres of lawn, they are using the same kind of energy that will doom our industrial agriculture, namely for pumping the water.  Fortunately, as some commenters have pointed out, some permaculture practices are designed for keeping the soil moist, reflect sunlight, and use less water.

Posted on January 25th, 2008 by fulvio
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Locavores undeterred

It’s been raining cats and dogs today, relentlessly. I went to the Farmer’s Market to stock up on the staples of my new diet (celery, carrots, radishes, kale, cauliflower, broccoli, onion, pears, apples, pluots), once I break my 10 day water-only fast. The lady at one of the stalls said: “you people are really hard-core! I can’t believe how busy the market is today, with all this rain!” And it was pretty busy – and wet.

After the post-100-mile-diet month debauchery of frozen pizzas and ice cream, it’s time for me to think again about food choices.  Seeing a friend diagnosed with colon cancer could have something to do with it.  Mind you, even though August had passed and I wasn’t feeling bound by the OHMD pledge, my awareness of food had stayed pretty high, but a few things were just too tempting.

Thanksgiving at Jenny and Scott’s was great. I don’t think anyone made a huge effort to keep it to within 100-miles, and even so it came pretty close. I was particularly pleased with my mushroom farrotto (recipes here and here). It would have been 100 miles-certifiable, except for the stock (which I really didn’t have the patience to make from scratch, this time), and one of the 3 packets of mushrooms (the other 2 were local). All the other dishes were wonderful, too. I wouldn’t know about the dead animals, though.

After Thanksgiving, I decided to embark on a new challenge: the water-only diet. I’m not working yet, so it had to be now or never. And because I’m probably going to start working again next week, I had to keep it to 10 days at most. Today is my 9th day, and it’s probably one of the best things I have ever done. I know it sounds scary – everyone I talk to tells me they could never do it. I just want to say it’s much, much easier than it sounds, and actually pleasant. I feel great. The “hunger” goes away after a day or two. The only caveat is that you can’t really do it while working, or leading an active life. You need a lot of rest. (And as the books say: don’t ever attempt this without medical supervision. Don’t follow my example.)

In order not to squander all the health benefits of the fast, I have decided to renew my committment to a healthier diet. And following the books I’ve read (Fasting and Eating for Health, Fasting can save your life, Eat to Live), my diet will consist mainly of fresh fruit and vegetables, some cooked vegetables, and some grains, legumes and nuts.  In other words, I can probably do it while also following the 100 mile diet.  So, I think I will make December another OHMD month!

Posted on December 2nd, 2007 by fulvio
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A find

I had a little excitement today at Ken’s Market on Phinney Ridge. Shopping for flour, sugar … some other staples not on the OHMD, things that we eat alot less of now, but….. not even looking for it …….

I found NW sea salt!

Apparently, Bob’s Red Mill is now producing it. the package even says they dehydrate sea water. The closest produced salt I had found until now was the stuff mined in Utah from an old salt lake. I wasn’t sure mined US salt was more sustainable than foreign sea salt. Anyway, yea for NW Sea Salt!

Also, at Ken’s they have Fairhaven flour. Manufactured in Bellingham of mostly NW grown wheat – another great local find.

Posted on October 14th, 2007 by jenny
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Farro Milk?

This is kind of random:

One of the things I miss in the OHMD is rice milk, of which I previously was a voracious consumer. Of course, my rice milk is produced in New York state and even if there were a local producer, the rice itself certainly is not grown within 100 miles. Then the other day, after cooking a batch of farro, and letting it sit for a while, I noticed that the excess liquid had turned whitish and creamy, so naturally the thought occurred to me about whether it would be possible to make farro milk. My mother told me a couple of months ago that when she was little they used to make rice milk in her home. You see, my mother grew up in WWII german bomb shelters, and – after the war – doing nightly raids into wheat and rye fields with mother, father and sister, armed with scissors, carrying home in her apron as much stolen grain and produce as they could under cover of darkness. And she still tells me stories of all the strange culinary inventions a starving population can give birth to. She definitely knows a thing or two about foraging and scavenging… So I’ll ask her if she remembers how to make rice milk, and maybe that recipe can be adapted to farro, too.

Posted on August 18th, 2007 by fulvio
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100 mile vacation?

1/2 day into vacation and my first meal away…thai!  definately not local.  While we aren’t sweating the details on vacation, I was hoping to find a local foods restaurant in Portland but didn’t get it together ahead of time.  It’s always the preparation that gets us.  Chloe was clearly excited at dinner to see her old friend rice as she tossed back 2 enormous bowls  at a frightening speed.  Up to vacation time we’ve been able to stick to our 100 miles better than I would have expected.  With exception of a couple glorious rosemary bread breakdowns, nearly all of our food has been local and we have definately been eating well.  Learning how simple foods can be really tasty.  Tomorrow we’re off to visit a very resourceful friend in the woods.  He’s also a fantastic cook, so we’re looking forward to someone else making us local foods!

Posted on August 15th, 2007 by Melissa
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Kelp!

I was chatting about OHMD with the owner of Dandelion Botanical Co., and mentioned that one thing I miss a lot is salt.  So she gave me a sample of dried Kelp from the San Juan Islands.  mmmm… my tastebuds were in salty heaven!  I was having kinetic visions of surfing in the ocean, foam and bubbles…  Ok, back to Ballard – what I was tasting, actually, was more the potassium seaweed is rich with, than sodium, she said.  Anyway, I’m looking forward to new culinary experiments.

Posted on August 12th, 2007 by fulvio
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Less trash

I was looking at my garbage today, and noticed that after 12 days of 100 mile diet its composition is probably at least 80% compostable.  I’m disposing of so much less packaging than normal, since most of my food comes home with me straight from the farmer’s market stall in canvas bags, and the occasional paper bag or recycled plastic bag.

Chalk up another green point for local eating!

Posted on August 12th, 2007 by fulvio
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Pressure cooker, anyone?

I decided I need a pressure cooker, after it took me about two hours to cook the farro, never mind the instructions say it should take one hour, which is still an ungodly length of time to cook something.  But the thought had occurred to me before.  Shorter cooking times = less greenhouse gas emissions AND longer life for my propane tank between refills.

BUT – where do I find one locally?  I went to Dead Meyer, and they only have gargantuan pressure canning kettles.  Right, I have one additional requirement: it has to be the smallest pressure cooker ever made.  With me living alone, and with very tight closet/cabinet space, I don’t have any use for a regular size.  I could order this, but I’d rather give my money to a neighborhood merchant.

Posted on August 11th, 2007 by fulvio
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