Eat Local October

Jennifer Maiser, the editor of the ELC site, has asked all of the participants in the October Eat Local Challenge to create a short statement of participation and to describe the goals and limits of our personal challenge.

1. What's your definition of local for this challenge?

For the purposes of this challenge I define local as being within 150 miles of my location. Since I travel often I will try to eat "locally" wherever I go as well and to seek out restaurants that support local farmers.

2. What exemptions will you claim?

* Coffee.
* Spices.
* Olive Oil.
* Things already in my house that were previously purchased.
* Food that is gifted to me or offered by family/friends.
* When eating out socially, I will choose restaurants that support local farms.

(I am still looking for a local source for grains, and hope to resolve that soon.)

3. What are your goals for the month? To cook at least one meal per week that is made up of entirely local ingredients, and to use mostly local ingredients the rest of the time. To learn to cook more with seasonal foods and try something new, to build relationships with local growers, to heighten my awareness of the effort that goes into getting food to the table, to eat more vegetables.