locavore challenge

Where I work they’ve been trying to get everyone to think more sustainably, and we now have a scheme that challenges us to pledge that we’ll make changes (a new change every month) to green up our home and work environments. My New Year’s resolution, pledged to whomever was listening at work, is to buy nothing unnecessary, and – for food purchases – only to buy stuff that is locally grown or produced whenever possible. In a few months time I hope to be harvesting my own vegetables and herbs, but today I thought I’d do my best in Wholefoods. I know, I know, Farmers’ Markets. But the thing is, I can WALK to Wholefoods, whereas a trip to the Farmers’ Market (if I’m not going to go in the car) will require buying and fitting panniers/a basket to my mountain bike, which is not going to happen.

Anyway, the shopping list was short and sweet, although I did suddenly get the urge to make muffins (as part of a different, doctor-ordered, eat flaxseed challenge), which threatened to mess up the locavore attempt. So, OK, exceptions were made for the molasses and dates that the recipe required, but how easy was the rest of it? Milk, and buttermilk (for the muffins), no problem – we have a great local dairy with a bottle return scheme and everything, but no one round here makes yoghurt. Hmm. Our Wholefoods usually has eggs loose in a basket from a local producer, but I was told the hens (at this particular farm) weren’t laying! Fortunately some other pre-packaged eggs were local (which is good, because hens are not something I’m planning to include on the old farmstead… at least not at first). But how to cater to my craving for fruit? If only I lived in California, or Washington State! After much searching I settled for a bag of tangerines from Florida, which is almost a neighbour, and a big bottle of fresh, locally produced apple cider (for those Brit-side of the Pond, no, this is not alcoholic! It’s just apple juice… no really). Quite pleased with myself about the (non-alcoholic) cider – this is not something I would have thought to buy, but it’s actually quite delicious!

armchair green

So today is 10/10/10, when we should get out and actually do something for the earth, and our climate crisis. And I’ve been at home for most of it working (day job stuff – big deadlines looming, and an imminent business trip, and I am NOT ready). But anyway, I’ve been trying to follow some of the day’s events as they unfold globally, and I tried, in a brief trip to Wholefoods, to do my bit by buying locally. I had noticed one 10/10/10 participant was trying to get everyone to buy their produce from within a 50 mile radius… I can do that, I thought! So there I was at the tomatoes, maybe six or seven different kinds – heirlooms, cherry, grape, on-the-vine, yellow, orange, red, deep brown…. There shouldn’t have been a problem finding something local – I mean OK it’s October, but it’s still really warm here. As a transplanted Brit, I can tell you that summers don’t get better than this in England. So anyway, the tomatoes… Arizona, Mexico, California… I am not near to any of these places. Finally I spotted them, some slightly less appealing looking local hot-house tomatoes. I bought them anyway, and they taste great of course, but if I had tried to source the whole meal from local produce I don’t know what I’d have come away with. I know, I *know*, I should have done my shopping at the farmers’ market, or be ordering in a box of veg from a local grower. If I wasn’t all fired up with the plan to grow my own favourite veg on the land next year, I’d be signing up for a veggie box for sure… had already done my homework there before I found my woodland.