Here is my meal.
I had a squash, purple potatoes, chicken and cucumbers. All purchased at the farmers market or at whole foods from a local chicken farm.
Shopping at the farmers market has made the food part of this pretty easy.
The struggle I have is finding toppings that are local. So, all my FOOD is local, but not the toppings. The butter for the potatoes, the vinegar for the cucumbers. The Indian spices WERE local when I got them IN India.
When I need to replace these things I would like to look for more local spices and other things I use as toppings. I eat very little dairy so making my own butter isn't an option. Wonder if I can make butter out of goats milk?
The wonderful thing is that I have eaten meals that were almost all local just because I have the food around, or have left overs. I really have enjoyed looking at my plate and seeing that at almost every meal I'm eating SOMETHING local. I have loved my food and feel good about it. Buying at the farmers market has been cheaper for most things. Also, I get food I don't find at the grocery store so I'm adding to my variety of veggies as well.
I also purchased some hand lotion that was made locally too that is really nice. It had all natural ingredients like honey, beeswax, Shea Butter, jojoba oil. The beeswax is from the makers farm that is in Duluth. BONUS.
What I learned was the kind of obvious fact that, as you start getting local food in the house, becoming a little more aware of local food, it makes it easier to just integrate it into more than just that one meal.
My goal for next week?
Let's go for two meals that are fully local.
Now that I've noticed that I've been integrating more local food in other meals. I will keep track of how many meals I am including local food in when I eat at home.
I haven't been all that creative with my goal, I guess, but it's working and making a positive difference.
Judy you are awesome! Whenever I look at pictures of your local meals I get super hungry for fresh food. My question is, where do you hope to shop during the dead of winter? And, can you taste a big difference between local chicken and store bought chicken? It is so fun to follow your blog!
ReplyDeleteWell, now that is a good question! Move south?? Find some person who cans and is willing to sell their goods? :)
ReplyDeleteI guess I'll be greatness that this is over before that happens?
I don't have a good storage place to keep the root veggies and winter veggies cool, sadly.
I guess I will have to let the goal go, but I will keep it going as long as I can and see what I might be able to find to keep local food going through my house.
Again, good point!
I guess I do think that local meat tastes different. I have had some really fresh chicken that just tastes good and clean. It's hard to say ALWAYS. I do know that I used to buy chicken breasts in a bag from Walmart that were not great and felt like they didn't fill me up even though they were bigger than the normal chicken that I usually get. I get local chicken at whole foods as well as the farmers markets. I think they carry at some regular stores too.
Thank you for the compliment too! :)
The meals you come up with look so healthy and I am impressed that you can get all you food from such local sources. Hopefully you can find a way to continue eating locally in the winter! Good luck and keep eating locally!
ReplyDeleteOnce again, that meal looks delicious. I popped into the co-op the other day to pick up some organic goods and opted for the locally farmed eggs. I must say, you can just tell you are eating more quality food by the way they look, taste, and FEEL. Those eggs cracked so nicely- it sounds SO cheesy but I'm not kidding! You really start to appreciate your food when you put thought and morale into what you are buying and consuming.
ReplyDeleteI do recall eggs are one of those things I notices a HUGE change on. I don't eat a ton of eggs... part of the reason I do pay for the better quality eggs. I did totally notice a difference.
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