With out of town guests here for an overnight, my focus was off food and on to the people who were eating it. We shared a meal of pasta and Birkert Family Farm sweet Italian sausage. We talked about the Eat Local Challenge as we munched on the sausages’ unfamiliar texture. We surmised it was due to a lower fat content, a conclusion that made the difference an asset.
My guests brought a bottle of Andretti merlot, which generally isn’t too far out of my idea of local, but this particular bottle had traveled from California, to Seattle and then back south to my table. We carry things around so casually these days.
It seems clear that an early step to sustainability is to cut down the number of miles our food travels to get to us, and everyone at the table agreed we could become accustomed to local and regional cuisine again. That segued into a discussion of heritage recipes which seemed an entirely appropriate entrée to attendance at "Our Town" at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Values are a central topic of all Thornton Wilder’s work, and the lessons of "Our Town," which is about relationships and how we take their precious nature for granted, can certainly be applied to our relationship to food and the earth that produces it.
Another meal worth mentioning was an Amy’s frozen rice crust pizza, which was likely manufactured here in the Valley, providing local employment, but I know nothing about its food sources. I miss the gloriously chewy texture that wheat gluten imparts to pizza crust that are missing from my substitute. Generous heaps of my basil walnut pesto help.
A deceptively old-fashioned European label hides the Southern Oregon origins of Giradet cabernet sauvignon, 2002. I shared a bottle with my friend Mark, and its flavor was distinctly improved when I paired it with pepper brie from New York. It was out of range, but also almost out of time, so we ate and were glad.
Organizers mentioned the eat local challenge at Lynn Howe’s Grilla Bites fundraiser Sunday night. This was at the Medford location, where she’s running for Oregon State Representative. Grilla Bites had made a special effort to serve local food and wine. I had a Willamette Valley Vineyard pinot noir, which had a lovely, bright taste with a touch of cherry. It’s one to seek out.
Even though I didn’t source all my food choices in a tight circle around Medford, I’m happy about my effort in the Eat Local Challenge and recommend the experiment to everyone. Here’s why. Trade is part of the history of humanity; we aren’t going to stop it. But we don’t have to buy everything local to make a difference. Even a subtle change in our collective purchasing could create a substantial change in the local economy and landscape. Just by putting “local” higher on our food priority list, we would make a difference for the land. Gradually, we would inspire more variety in our locally grown and produced foods.
Maybe then we would start to care about the federal farm bill and subsidies given to corn and soy, which force unhealthy ecological practices, encourage agribusiness and create food dilemmas at the supermarket. The farm bill is where the cheap soft drink that rots our teeth, demineralizes our bones and makes us fat gets its start. Quoting Charlie Brown, “Arghh.”
I think the lessons I learned will stick with me: patronizing the local farmers markets and stores that carry local, buying domestic, instead of the import, considering local as important as organic. Even little shifts, like inflated tires, can shrink our ecological footprint. In life-changing actions, I really like it when little goes a long way.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Friday: Missing imported treats but eating better
It seems clear that an early step to sustainability is to cut down the number of miles our food travels to get to us, but it’s hard to give up some of the little pleasures that come from far away.
I eat a little sesame snap made with sugar, not the ubiquitous high-fructose corn syrup that likely contains GMO corn. Being in the “eat local” challenge I finally looked for where they are manufactured. No, not the Middle East — they come from Poland! I’ve only eaten one package all week.
I missed them yesterday on my trip to Crater Lake. I packed a lunch with all the same cheeses I’ve been eating all week and brought Lundberg rice cakes instead of my imported rice crisp. To eat a rice cake you have to hold it properly, with the right amount of tension or the darn thing will explode when you bite it. Even with my years of experience I left a scattering of rice puffs for the mountain jays to feast on. I also had some snap-pea crisps (Southern California, a bit out of my local comfort zone) and home-grown sungold tomatoes. For dessert I had another peach.
On the way back we had to drive through wood smoke from the Sky Lakes fire. The fire camp is at Lost Creek Lake, where the RVs are circled like Conestoga wagons. I usually don’t want an early rainy season, but that seems pretty selfish.
Dinner was a bean stew I made with black-eyed peas purchased from Bigham Farms. I hated those beans when I was a kid in the South. They make ‘em up pretty plain there. I combined them with tomatoes, a splash of wine (Oak Knoll pinot noir from the Willamette), a slice of Farmer Bickert’s Canadian bacon, salt, pepper and rosemary. OMG, very good. I didn’t like having to shell the beans. Still, that was before I ate them, so I could get over that inconvenience.
All in all, I’ve gotten a lot better at eating local over the last week. Just one more weekend to go and I’ve got company coming.
I eat a little sesame snap made with sugar, not the ubiquitous high-fructose corn syrup that likely contains GMO corn. Being in the “eat local” challenge I finally looked for where they are manufactured. No, not the Middle East — they come from Poland! I’ve only eaten one package all week.
I missed them yesterday on my trip to Crater Lake. I packed a lunch with all the same cheeses I’ve been eating all week and brought Lundberg rice cakes instead of my imported rice crisp. To eat a rice cake you have to hold it properly, with the right amount of tension or the darn thing will explode when you bite it. Even with my years of experience I left a scattering of rice puffs for the mountain jays to feast on. I also had some snap-pea crisps (Southern California, a bit out of my local comfort zone) and home-grown sungold tomatoes. For dessert I had another peach.
On the way back we had to drive through wood smoke from the Sky Lakes fire. The fire camp is at Lost Creek Lake, where the RVs are circled like Conestoga wagons. I usually don’t want an early rainy season, but that seems pretty selfish.
Dinner was a bean stew I made with black-eyed peas purchased from Bigham Farms. I hated those beans when I was a kid in the South. They make ‘em up pretty plain there. I combined them with tomatoes, a splash of wine (Oak Knoll pinot noir from the Willamette), a slice of Farmer Bickert’s Canadian bacon, salt, pepper and rosemary. OMG, very good. I didn’t like having to shell the beans. Still, that was before I ate them, so I could get over that inconvenience.
All in all, I’ve gotten a lot better at eating local over the last week. Just one more weekend to go and I’ve got company coming.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Thursday: Finally local, if not all organic
When pressed, my grandfather would tell us kids how his family lived, making their own sausages and tapping their own maple sugar. I loved hearing those stories, at least if they weren’t too gory, and the notion of self-reliance stayed with me. That’s translated into my own vegetable garden and even this attempt to eat local.
Breakfast: more Nutty Rice, California walnuts and raisins (and fair-trade, organic coffee with half-and-half). I had to take the dog to the vet, or a more interesting menu might have been possible. I worked for a few hours at the Master Gardener gardens at the Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center. Hot work, the remedy for which was a stop at White’s Market, where I picked up a melon, blueberries, peaches (from their backyard) and prune plums. I couldn’t keep myself from eating a peach and dipping into the pint of blueberries, so dessert came before lunch, which was a roll-up with more Bickert Family Farm bacon, cheese and tomato. Every bit of it was local.
Then came more work in my garden, with some assistance from my friend Mark. Later, we shared a Mendocino Zinfandel, Full Circle buffalo burgers and local, sweet, yellow corn, along with the last of Linda’s tomato. The corn was gorgeous, the rows so uniform it was photogenic. The buffalo was amazingly good, and much finger-licking was heard at the table.
In an ear of corn, every single kernel must be fertilized for it to develop. Each of the corn silks, those brown strings at the top of an ear, leads to a separate kernel inside the developing ear. The tassels at the top of the corn stalk hold the pollen, which the wind blows to the ready silk, usually on another stalk, which fertilizes that kernel, allowing it to develop. The even development on my ear of corn spoke of good conditions, as did the worms, which are the downside of organic corn. Hey, they are easily knocked off.
I’ve noticed that sometimes to get local, I can’t buy organic. That’s been my first choice for years, so it’s hard to make the switch. The peaches, blueberries and melon were not labeled organic. I admit it’s good for me to test the difference. I know it’s really hard to grow soft-skinned fruits here, with peach curl only one of the issues growers face. I don’t know the whole story, but it makes me curious about how it might be done local and organic, and how much I might have to pay then. As it was, I was happy with the prices at White’s, which were at or below supermarket prices.
Breakfast: more Nutty Rice, California walnuts and raisins (and fair-trade, organic coffee with half-and-half). I had to take the dog to the vet, or a more interesting menu might have been possible. I worked for a few hours at the Master Gardener gardens at the Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center. Hot work, the remedy for which was a stop at White’s Market, where I picked up a melon, blueberries, peaches (from their backyard) and prune plums. I couldn’t keep myself from eating a peach and dipping into the pint of blueberries, so dessert came before lunch, which was a roll-up with more Bickert Family Farm bacon, cheese and tomato. Every bit of it was local.
Then came more work in my garden, with some assistance from my friend Mark. Later, we shared a Mendocino Zinfandel, Full Circle buffalo burgers and local, sweet, yellow corn, along with the last of Linda’s tomato. The corn was gorgeous, the rows so uniform it was photogenic. The buffalo was amazingly good, and much finger-licking was heard at the table.
In an ear of corn, every single kernel must be fertilized for it to develop. Each of the corn silks, those brown strings at the top of an ear, leads to a separate kernel inside the developing ear. The tassels at the top of the corn stalk hold the pollen, which the wind blows to the ready silk, usually on another stalk, which fertilizes that kernel, allowing it to develop. The even development on my ear of corn spoke of good conditions, as did the worms, which are the downside of organic corn. Hey, they are easily knocked off.
I’ve noticed that sometimes to get local, I can’t buy organic. That’s been my first choice for years, so it’s hard to make the switch. The peaches, blueberries and melon were not labeled organic. I admit it’s good for me to test the difference. I know it’s really hard to grow soft-skinned fruits here, with peach curl only one of the issues growers face. I don’t know the whole story, but it makes me curious about how it might be done local and organic, and how much I might have to pay then. As it was, I was happy with the prices at White’s, which were at or below supermarket prices.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Wednesday: Satisfying fixings for local BLTs
OK, it’s very clear I’m single because I’m still eating leftovers from last week. For breakfast, I went out and picked strawberries to add to the last of the rice pudding. If you want strawberries all year long, plant day-neutral varieties. If you want to put them up in jelly or just in the freezer, plant a June-bearing type, so you harvest a big crop once a year. The third choice is to plant ever-bearing varieties for June and September crops.
For lunch, you guessed it, last night’s leftovers. But I snacked all day on my very favorite cherry tomato — sungold, picked from my own garden. I’m getting my own tomatoes, finally. I’ve been snacking on sungolds all week; I found them at the Rogue Valley Growers and Crafters Market in Medford.
Dinner was a great surprise. First course: tomatoes from my friend and colleague Linda Mounts. She grew "legend" tomatoes, which are bred to be resistant to late blight. That’s important because it often takes our tomatoes so long to ripen that they become susceptible to this fungal disease. She’d warned me that legends are meaty. I cut one up, adding my own basil, local sweet onion, and drizzles of olive oil and Newman’s Own balsamic vinegar (Italy). Super eating.
Since I was hurrying to go to an evening class, dinner was eggs and locally made bacon. Yummy! The Canadian-style bacon from Bickle’s Hog Farm is in Grants Pass. He has the meat cured in Roseburg. Thick and tender slices make this a dinner- or lunch-style bacon too. Very tender and salty, of course. Old-fashioned.
I will reprise this meal tomorrow, making a BLT with the other tomato and more Bickle bacon. When it’s good, it can be simple, and you are still satisfied.
For lunch, you guessed it, last night’s leftovers. But I snacked all day on my very favorite cherry tomato — sungold, picked from my own garden. I’m getting my own tomatoes, finally. I’ve been snacking on sungolds all week; I found them at the Rogue Valley Growers and Crafters Market in Medford.
Dinner was a great surprise. First course: tomatoes from my friend and colleague Linda Mounts. She grew "legend" tomatoes, which are bred to be resistant to late blight. That’s important because it often takes our tomatoes so long to ripen that they become susceptible to this fungal disease. She’d warned me that legends are meaty. I cut one up, adding my own basil, local sweet onion, and drizzles of olive oil and Newman’s Own balsamic vinegar (Italy). Super eating.
Since I was hurrying to go to an evening class, dinner was eggs and locally made bacon. Yummy! The Canadian-style bacon from Bickle’s Hog Farm is in Grants Pass. He has the meat cured in Roseburg. Thick and tender slices make this a dinner- or lunch-style bacon too. Very tender and salty, of course. Old-fashioned.
I will reprise this meal tomorrow, making a BLT with the other tomato and more Bickle bacon. When it’s good, it can be simple, and you are still satisfied.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Tuesday: Raisins, walnuts can be grown locally
Monday’s breakfast was not from Southern Oregon, but in theory some of its ingredients could be grown here.
Raisins and walnuts generally make up about one third of my bowl of Nutty Rice. As the Oregon State University Extension bulletin puts it, “There’s currently no large commercial production of table grapes in Oregon.” You can grow a number of varieties in your home garden: ‘Fiesta’ and ‘Himrod,’ are good, white, eating and drying grapes, and ‘Glenora’ is a good blue/black type (same color as the famous ‘Concord,’ which may not mature here).
To get more info on growing your own raisins, you can either contact the OSU Extension Service at 776-7371 and ask for the Master Gardeners Plant Clinic, or you can get OSU pamphlets EC1306 (on cultivation) and EC1309 (varieties) online at http://extension.oregonstate.edu Read about the “foxy” flavor of American grapes. Sounds so enticing.
My walnuts are probably from California, which produces 99 percent of U.S. walnuts — but again, these can be grown here, if you have the right soil (deep with good drainage) and are not in a frost pocket and don’t mind some impact from the 100-plus degree temperatures. That info is in OSU pamphlet EM 8907.
You need time and a big piece of property to grow walnuts. Hazelnuts, or filberts, are a better proposition for the home gardener, and the Willamette Valley produces a lot of hazelnuts. An OSU guide to growing hazelnuts is available from Oregon Hazelnut Association here http://www.oregonhazelnuts.org/handbook.php
Enough with the technical stuff. For a late lunch I had more of the jack cheese with the last of the foreign-born crackers and a Nantes carrot from the Growers Market. Nantes carrots are blunt ended, about 8 inches long and uniformly thick. Besides their convenient grating and quartering shape, they have a crisp texture and good carrot flavor. Fresh ones can be unbelievably sweet, better than baby carrots, which might not be babies, just shaped to look young. I think food must be wasted in that process, but I’m not sure.
Dinner repeated the walnut theme. I made a fresh pesto with the basil from my garden, Parmesan cheese (Midwest) and “Napa Valley” olive oil that also contained olive oil from Argentina. I didn’t see that when I bought it, really. I use rice pasta, avoiding gluten, and only one brand, Tinkyada, A.K.A. Pasta Joy. It’s a Canadian company, but the rice was of unknown origin, so the pasta probably has a lot of miles on it, too. So dinner was my meal with the most mileage on it, despite the halo put on by the basil grown in my backyard.
It’s not easy cutting back on the driving. Tomorrow will be better. Here’s my pesto recipe, but please try to buy a domestic olive oil, local basil is at the market and affordable so you can freeze it. I put mine in snack bags and then in another bag to prevent freezer burn. You can use ice-cube trays.
I’m afraid to read the other blogs. It’s so obvious how dependent I’ve become on foods outside the circle of “local” foods. Can we make a salt that tastes as good as Celtic salt here in Oregon? I promise to buy it. I will eat more local foods in the days upcoming. Really.
Basil Walnut Pesto
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup walnut pieces
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 teaspoon Celtic or sea salt (optional)
2 cups packed basil leaves (about 2 ounces)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons softened butter (optional)
Place the olive oil, walnuts, garlic and salt (if using) in food processor, pulse until walnuts crumble. Add the basil and blend until thoroughly combined.
Add the Parmesan and butter (if using) and pulse 5 to 10 times more.
Just before serving, add 2 tablespoons of hot pasta water from cooked pasta. Toss with pasta before serving.
Raisins and walnuts generally make up about one third of my bowl of Nutty Rice. As the Oregon State University Extension bulletin puts it, “There’s currently no large commercial production of table grapes in Oregon.” You can grow a number of varieties in your home garden: ‘Fiesta’ and ‘Himrod,’ are good, white, eating and drying grapes, and ‘Glenora’ is a good blue/black type (same color as the famous ‘Concord,’ which may not mature here).
To get more info on growing your own raisins, you can either contact the OSU Extension Service at 776-7371 and ask for the Master Gardeners Plant Clinic, or you can get OSU pamphlets EC1306 (on cultivation) and EC1309 (varieties) online at http://extension.oregonstate.edu Read about the “foxy” flavor of American grapes. Sounds so enticing.
My walnuts are probably from California, which produces 99 percent of U.S. walnuts — but again, these can be grown here, if you have the right soil (deep with good drainage) and are not in a frost pocket and don’t mind some impact from the 100-plus degree temperatures. That info is in OSU pamphlet EM 8907.
You need time and a big piece of property to grow walnuts. Hazelnuts, or filberts, are a better proposition for the home gardener, and the Willamette Valley produces a lot of hazelnuts. An OSU guide to growing hazelnuts is available from Oregon Hazelnut Association here http://www.oregonhazelnuts.org/handbook.php
Enough with the technical stuff. For a late lunch I had more of the jack cheese with the last of the foreign-born crackers and a Nantes carrot from the Growers Market. Nantes carrots are blunt ended, about 8 inches long and uniformly thick. Besides their convenient grating and quartering shape, they have a crisp texture and good carrot flavor. Fresh ones can be unbelievably sweet, better than baby carrots, which might not be babies, just shaped to look young. I think food must be wasted in that process, but I’m not sure.
Dinner repeated the walnut theme. I made a fresh pesto with the basil from my garden, Parmesan cheese (Midwest) and “Napa Valley” olive oil that also contained olive oil from Argentina. I didn’t see that when I bought it, really. I use rice pasta, avoiding gluten, and only one brand, Tinkyada, A.K.A. Pasta Joy. It’s a Canadian company, but the rice was of unknown origin, so the pasta probably has a lot of miles on it, too. So dinner was my meal with the most mileage on it, despite the halo put on by the basil grown in my backyard.
It’s not easy cutting back on the driving. Tomorrow will be better. Here’s my pesto recipe, but please try to buy a domestic olive oil, local basil is at the market and affordable so you can freeze it. I put mine in snack bags and then in another bag to prevent freezer burn. You can use ice-cube trays.
I’m afraid to read the other blogs. It’s so obvious how dependent I’ve become on foods outside the circle of “local” foods. Can we make a salt that tastes as good as Celtic salt here in Oregon? I promise to buy it. I will eat more local foods in the days upcoming. Really.
Basil Walnut Pesto
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup walnut pieces
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 teaspoon Celtic or sea salt (optional)
2 cups packed basil leaves (about 2 ounces)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons softened butter (optional)
Place the olive oil, walnuts, garlic and salt (if using) in food processor, pulse until walnuts crumble. Add the basil and blend until thoroughly combined.
Add the Parmesan and butter (if using) and pulse 5 to 10 times more.
Just before serving, add 2 tablespoons of hot pasta water from cooked pasta. Toss with pasta before serving.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Weekend: Local and leftovers
Well, more planning will be needed to eat local, at least in the beginning. I didn’t do enough planning, so I scrambled all weekend for locally grown. I ate mostly leftovers, rice pudding for breakfast with a sprinkling of Washington State blueberries and half-and-half.
Delicious. Lunch was goat cheese, of unknown origin, and my favorite rice crackers. Sadly, I learned they are imported, so I’ll be looking for an alternative for the rest of the challenge.
Stocking up on locally grown at Fred Meyer takes longer, since they don’t flag the local foods. But I did find an Oregon pinot noir, organic even, by Cooper Mountain Winery. That was enjoyed at the last of the Britt concerts along with a salad combining rice, local veggies from the Grower’s Market with backyard tomatoes, yellow zucchini and a few green beans. I bought Stella brand asiago cheese (Wisconsin) because the alternative was imported.
On a brighter note, I learned that my favorite chips: Krinkle Cut Salt & Pepper, are made by an Oregon company: Kettle, in Salem. Yay! I can pair them with an Oregon beer: Black Butte Porter, by Deschutes Brewery in Bend.
Saturday included a visit to Southern Oregon Brewery in Medford for a tour of this brand-new company. I’ve had their beer on tap at a couple local spots and am a real fan, especially of the porter. It’s not in bottles yet, but they do sell a “growler” at the brewery, open Wednesday through Saturday, and they have 30-plus pubs that sell the beer.
Sunday included an omelet with Naturally Nested eggs (the carton lists Washington, Idaho and Oregon addresses along with a South Dakota address, which makes them likely local). I don’t have friends with chickens, so that will have to do right now. I combined the eggs with mushrooms, a growers market onion, eggs and Romiano-brand Monterey Jack cheese, organic and local, from Willows and Crescent City, Calif., purchased at Grocery Outlet. I felt I had to use the mushrooms, of unknown origin, since they are drying up.
By now, all the leftovers are gone or need to go bye-bye. I took some local meat from the market out of the freezer, so food will get more interesting in the next couple days. Otherwise I will be too ashamed to blog about it.
Delicious. Lunch was goat cheese, of unknown origin, and my favorite rice crackers. Sadly, I learned they are imported, so I’ll be looking for an alternative for the rest of the challenge.
Stocking up on locally grown at Fred Meyer takes longer, since they don’t flag the local foods. But I did find an Oregon pinot noir, organic even, by Cooper Mountain Winery. That was enjoyed at the last of the Britt concerts along with a salad combining rice, local veggies from the Grower’s Market with backyard tomatoes, yellow zucchini and a few green beans. I bought Stella brand asiago cheese (Wisconsin) because the alternative was imported.
On a brighter note, I learned that my favorite chips: Krinkle Cut Salt & Pepper, are made by an Oregon company: Kettle, in Salem. Yay! I can pair them with an Oregon beer: Black Butte Porter, by Deschutes Brewery in Bend.
Saturday included a visit to Southern Oregon Brewery in Medford for a tour of this brand-new company. I’ve had their beer on tap at a couple local spots and am a real fan, especially of the porter. It’s not in bottles yet, but they do sell a “growler” at the brewery, open Wednesday through Saturday, and they have 30-plus pubs that sell the beer.
Sunday included an omelet with Naturally Nested eggs (the carton lists Washington, Idaho and Oregon addresses along with a South Dakota address, which makes them likely local). I don’t have friends with chickens, so that will have to do right now. I combined the eggs with mushrooms, a growers market onion, eggs and Romiano-brand Monterey Jack cheese, organic and local, from Willows and Crescent City, Calif., purchased at Grocery Outlet. I felt I had to use the mushrooms, of unknown origin, since they are drying up.
By now, all the leftovers are gone or need to go bye-bye. I took some local meat from the market out of the freezer, so food will get more interesting in the next couple days. Otherwise I will be too ashamed to blog about it.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Friday: Eating without a crisis
I’m gearing up for the challenge of eating locally for the next 10 days, wondering if I need a plan — a menu plan. Ugh.
I generally buy food daily, a sort of whimsical eating pattern that suits a single person. For this adventure in eating, I’ll visit the local farmer’s markets and the Rogue Valley Growers and Crafters Market to meet my needs.
One of my many reasons for taking on this local food challenge is that I’ve had a heck of a time growing my own food in Medford. It’s a bit embarrassing and certainly perplexing, as I’ve got a thriving perennial garden. I’ve failed or had erratic results growing tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and kale, none of which are particularly difficult to produce. I’ve even failed to get a bean crop. It might be my location, my clay soil or my sporadic planting practices. Maybe the veggies recognize I love flowers best.
Anyway, I admire those who not only grow food, but are willing to stake their livelihood on growing in this semi-arid, variable-weather, extreme-temperature valley. What a lot of heart! Successfully growing tasty food is an art and takes a lot of knowledge. I would like to support these people.
I think of living sustainably as the ideal place where energy taken from the supply system equals the energy put into it, so it is capable of being perpetuated. But what does that mean on a daily basis? It can’t mean that we should only eat from our own permaculture garden. Heck, I’m pretty sure that today the (vast?) majority of Americans couldn’t grow their own food to save their lives.
So I’m not going to eat like I’m in a crisis. My working definition of sustainable is that my “local eating” can be sustained beyond this 10-day challenge.
I will use items that can’t be produced locally or at least are not produced here yet: salt, pepper, and a daily cup of coffee (with half-and-half) are basic to my diet. Since my eating is further complicated by the need to avoid gluten, a protein in wheat, barley, rye and other grains, I will include rice, even it’s from way out of town.
So I’m going to try this like it’s something that anyone could and would do without a crisis. It has got to be fun. Still, I’ll probably end up eating a lot of squash, eggplant and tomatoes in complicated recipes instead of my usual New Zealand Fuji apple coupled with (local) Tillamook sharp cheddar cheese. Yum! I’m glad our local apple season has begun.
I generally buy food daily, a sort of whimsical eating pattern that suits a single person. For this adventure in eating, I’ll visit the local farmer’s markets and the Rogue Valley Growers and Crafters Market to meet my needs.
One of my many reasons for taking on this local food challenge is that I’ve had a heck of a time growing my own food in Medford. It’s a bit embarrassing and certainly perplexing, as I’ve got a thriving perennial garden. I’ve failed or had erratic results growing tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and kale, none of which are particularly difficult to produce. I’ve even failed to get a bean crop. It might be my location, my clay soil or my sporadic planting practices. Maybe the veggies recognize I love flowers best.
Anyway, I admire those who not only grow food, but are willing to stake their livelihood on growing in this semi-arid, variable-weather, extreme-temperature valley. What a lot of heart! Successfully growing tasty food is an art and takes a lot of knowledge. I would like to support these people.
I think of living sustainably as the ideal place where energy taken from the supply system equals the energy put into it, so it is capable of being perpetuated. But what does that mean on a daily basis? It can’t mean that we should only eat from our own permaculture garden. Heck, I’m pretty sure that today the (vast?) majority of Americans couldn’t grow their own food to save their lives.
So I’m not going to eat like I’m in a crisis. My working definition of sustainable is that my “local eating” can be sustained beyond this 10-day challenge.
I will use items that can’t be produced locally or at least are not produced here yet: salt, pepper, and a daily cup of coffee (with half-and-half) are basic to my diet. Since my eating is further complicated by the need to avoid gluten, a protein in wheat, barley, rye and other grains, I will include rice, even it’s from way out of town.
So I’m going to try this like it’s something that anyone could and would do without a crisis. It has got to be fun. Still, I’ll probably end up eating a lot of squash, eggplant and tomatoes in complicated recipes instead of my usual New Zealand Fuji apple coupled with (local) Tillamook sharp cheddar cheese. Yum! I’m glad our local apple season has begun.
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