eating locally

berry!, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

For the past few weeks I've been doing a lot of research on eating locally, supporting family farms that grow produce and raise livestock on a small scale. In the process I've found a few helpful websites:

--Local Harvest: You can search for Community Supported Agriculture programs for your region

--Find a Community Garden near you and grow your own organic food!

--website of the 100 mile Diet, moderated by the authors of Plenty.

--Barbara Kingsolver's new book about eating locally: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

--For those who are interested in taking on the challenge to eat locally, I highly recommend subscribing to the "Eat Local Challenge" blog.

--For you who live near me (in SoCal), here are some links for some fabulous local foods: Winchester cheese (their super-aged Gouda is to-die-for), Temecula olive oil, and South Coast Farms (which is the best local CSA source, IMO)


My biggest problem in trying to source all of our family's food locally is wheat. I know that wheat is grown within 100 miles of our home, but I can't find any place to purchase the wheat. Does anyone have any ideas for me on how to do this??

UPDATE: The National Center for Home Food Preservation (for canning, pickling, etc all of that locally grown good-ness)

Also, see JohnH's writeup of our local eating adventure last Sunday.

UPDATE #2: A list of OC Certified Farmers Markets with tons of seasonal recipes(!) included

Make me smile...

-Some Friends throwing a party for me and other recent ABDs in our Meeting. With dinner, a tasty cake, shiny balloons, petite baskets of flowers, and a card signed by everyone. I loved the casual table conversations--good books, eating local, families, games, etc. What more could a girl ask for?

-Oh, I know: how about Friends who drop by after said party for a few rounds of 'Apples to Apples' and some stimulating conversation.

-A spot of rain yesterday and today. And the smoky smell is clearing.

-New garden neighbors, one of which used to run her own organic farm!

-Riding my bike home from class and spying a hottie on a bike heading my way. Stopping to chat for a moment even though it's only been 4 hours or so since I awoke in his arms. And the sweet kiss he blew towards me as he rode off in the opposite direction.

-EllyCat insisting on curling up on my totebag for naptime after a few snuggles and scratchies under the collar.

-My kiddoes' homecoming from school today. Because some days I just miss being apart from them--even for a few short hours...

For the beauty of the earth

garden, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

I'm not doing anything particularly special to celebrate Earth Day today, just my typical ongoing attempts to live lightly on this planet (eating local, composting, etc).

What about you? Any Earth Day plans?

simple savings

Cornucopia., originally uploaded by mind on fire.

Given the economic crunch I know we're all trying to save money these days(!). I find it hard to do so sometimes when I'm also committed to eating healthily and buying fresh local produce. Because of course hotdogs & fruit roll-ups (blegh) are cheaper than anything free range or organic!

Back in the stone ages when I was a college undergrad and I took a nutrition class, our teacher recommended that the best way to stay healthy and spend less on groceries was to skip the middle aisles (read: processed foods) and only buy items on the periphery of the market (produce, dairy, bulk grains, etc). Of course it's not that easy!

One way we've saved money and lived closer to our values over the past few months is to subscribe to a CSA plan that offers a weekly "veggie box" of fresh produce from a local farm (produce in image above is just a sampling from one week of goodies). I plan our meals so we eat 2 or 3 dinners and several lunch salads from each box. Yum!

I came across an article today that discusses how the author cut her grocery bill by 75% without having to sacrifice buying organic and healthy items and though you all would appreciate reading it and seeing if you could save as much, too.

Another idea I'm toying with is hosting regular potlucks where everyone cooks a dish to share--which would save me some cooking time and I'd get to enjoy the variety of others' culinary efforts. This idea appeals to me on several levels--because I love spending time with friends and I think sharing the mealtime workload makes a lot more sense than everyone individually cooking well-rounded meals.

As long as you've dropped by, why don't you drop your best grocery money-saving tips in the comments for all of us to benefit from!

Photo by John

pure yum

Having John back in the kitchen makes everything so right in the world once again! Last year, due to my extended illness, we got out of our local eating habit. This morning after a trip to the Farmer's Market, we are back in business. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be making such conscious healthy choices once again.

Picture above is the bottom layer of a fig, pesto, and mozzarella sandwich that John assembled for our lunch, before it was warmed in the oven. I made the pesto by whirring some basil from our garden with some olive oil, garlic, fresh grated parmesan, and a handful of pecans. Pure yum.