How lo(cal) can I go?

I've been mulling for the past week whether to participate in any of the various local food challenges going on in North Carolina and across the country. Not because I don't think it would be possible. In fact, I believe North Carolina is one of the best states to do it in. I just don't know if I want to add more rules or guidelines to my life.

I actually thought about participating in the 100 Mile Diet last year and blogging about it for the News & Record, but I scrapped the idea once I became pregnant. Now that my daughter is six months old, I feel comfortable trying it. Plus, eating locally is becoming more popular and I've got to be in the in-crowd, now don't I? (Yeah, right.)

I've been gardening in a small plot and shopping at the farmers markets in Greensboro and Colfax since last spring. Resources such as Slow Food Piedmont Triad and Local Harvest have helped me find sites for all kinds of goods, such as locally milled flour, chicken and herbs. I just need to decide how strict I want to be and how long I want to go. Do I cut out rice and pasta, salt and pepper? Do I go for a week, a month or the rest of the year? What restaurants in Greensboro would be off limits?  

Whatever I decide, I have made the commitment to increase the amount of locally-grown and produced foods I eat. I like feeling connected to farmers and artisans in Guilford County and North Carolina and being able to ask them face to face about their products. But I want my purchases and food preparations to be both a joy and learning experience, not a guilt-ridden chore. 

Comments

[Laurie]

Hey,
I've done a couple of eat local challenges, and here is my view:

1) They are very useful in educating yourself in the state of local food and farms around here.

2) I don't do them any more (well, I did sign up for the one at Deep Roots, but I eat mostly local these days anyway) because I learned what I needed and it is a way of life for me now.

3) If the rules that you set for yourself become a burden to you, drop them. Good food should be a pleasure. If you want rice and pasta, buy them. But it's fun to discover that you can order rice from South Carolina online (Anson Mills).

4)The Eat Local Summer challenge is very doable. It involves eating one local meal a week and blogging about it. See farmtophilly.com for details. Greensboro resident Joyce at blog.lowmileagefood.com is coordinating the southeast region.

5) The biggest thing I learned in the Eat Local Challenge two years ago is that it is hard to find a local meal in a local restaurant, and harder to find a server who understands your question. High end restaurants are more on board. The ones in Greensboro that are the most committed that I know of are Bistro Sofia, Sweet Basils, Sticks and Stones (haven't tried), Riva's Trattoria (haven't tried) and Zaytoon - my friends Masoud and Anna were committed before most people had heard of a local food movement.

[Morgan Glover]

Thanks Laurie.
I have started shopping around and have learned quite a bit already. I came pretty close to an all local meal on Sunday, with the following being purchased at the local farmers markets: chicken, cabbage, potatoes, honey, garlic, basil, onions, green beans and flour (milled at Old Guilford Mill). The only things not local were the seasonings, olive oil, yeast, etc. I could easily do one meal a week.