Difficulties and the Future

Moving in a few days! Eek. Perhaps that's why I had a danish, a spinach and feta-filled croissant, and today for lunch a bowl of lentil soup with salad. Hopefully I'll get back on track next week after the chaos.

On an up note, check out this link from SPUD about economist Jeff Rubin's new book "Why Your World Is About To Get A Whole Lot Smaller": Its going to be a small world afterall .

10 reasons to eat local

10 reasons to eat local

Interesting links

News etc. I like

1) Great NY Times blog about growing agriculture-minded schools. Amazing

2) Why not label foods with their emissions? Go Sweden!
Article

3) Carolyn Herriot's Blog www.gardenwiseonline.ca (The article "Eating From Your Winter Garden" is especially relevant).

:)

The Spinach Dilemma

I stopped into Whole Foods on the way home (a Capers store near Broadway and Cambie), entered the produce section to find yet more signs saying "product of the US", turned to the nice produce clerk, and voiced my frustration. I asked him "when it says US, do you know where in the US it comes from?" He explained that most of the produce right now if from California or Mexico. I told him about my new experiment and he said that there would be some things from greenhouses in Washington. I stopped, and I pondered, if I'm purchasing things from greenhouses, am I really making a positive change? Is it really so important that I exclude California? Like people have said, aren't things from California likely more effeciently produced? The produce clerk told me he had also tried to eat locally before but that he had prepared in advance and frozen his greens (what I'm missing right now from my diet). Hmmm.

As I walked around the store the wheels continued to turn (a lovely benefit from this whole endeavor). I saw green. I saw "brassica mix" (bits of delicious-looking kale and such) positively glowing in a regularly spritzed refrigerated bowl. It's lovely green and purple foliage taunted me and when I saw the California label I actually frowned and might have wimpered. You see, I'm one of those people who likes green in every meal, and I think I've had the colour 4 times in the last 2 weeks. Then I saw the spinach. Gorgeous and... giant smile :) from BC! "Yey!" I cried on the inside. And then I thought. Hmmm, I just went to a Vancouver garden in search of greens and found just a few sprigs of kale. "How did this spinach grow?" I pondered. I am thinking likely in a greenhouse and so the frown returned. Yet I stuck to my rule and lovingly packed a bag full of the amazing stuff.

As I continued to wonder with my find, I reached the frozen foods sections, contemplating getting finding some more local fare therewithin. Yet another dilemma... if it's been frozen since summer how eco-friendly is that? The not so reusable plastic bags egged me on my way. I had my spinach, this was enough.

I didn't mention the salmon. I got salmon. Lemon pepper seasoned spring salmon from our coastal waters and a bit of maple nuggets. Yes, dilemma 3, after 17 days I saw those filets, tasted some, and wanted some. Part of my excuse includes checking my oceanwise chart first and seeing that wild Canadian spring salmon is not on the good list, but it is also not on the bad. Surely buying a filet or two one every few months is my fair share, right? Plus, I need to add a bit more variety to my diet than grains, root veggies and dairy. I actually think I've gained a few pounds in the last week from all the dairy. Now, I need balance.

Well I would currently rather read than write, so I will leave it there. My current big thoughts are that if eating locally reduces our dependence on oil and builds a healthy local food system I am still fully behind it, I just need to figure out how to make that food system also organic, small-scale, energy efficient and seasonal. I think my next step is to visit an urban garden that is flourishing despite the fact that it is January. Growing winter hardy crops would be a simple answer.

In parting I will just say farmer's market finds from Saturday included portabello mushrooms, qualicum cheese, honey and biodynamic apples (they looked beautiful!). I'll also be sure to post my estimates food finances for the last two weeks soon. I am currently thinking it's been about $200, but not sure, hoping a bit less, but I did spend $20 on nuts (an exception although I've heard I could source some local hazelnuts).

Happy eating!

End of oil?

Perhaps a very strong reason to make a change for the better :)

Eating This Week

Hi!

Just thought I would say a quick hello. I just ordered my SPUD box for tomorrow and am not all too excited about the fact that my local organic vegetables for the upcoming week consist of a big green cabbage, some beets, and crimini mushrooms (plus squash, onions and potatoes that I have here at home). At least I can go to the Farmer's market at Wise Hall this Saturday. This past Saturday I also ended up biking over to Donald's Market on Commercial to get more milk, apples, cheese, yoghurt, mushrooms and *aghast* tahini. Honestly though I'm not that aghast. I think I'll have to add nuts, seeds and beans processed locally to my list of exceptions, at least until I figure out an alternative protein source (but then again, as you perhaps noted, I am getting my intake of dairy).

Today's reading is: SPEC's Food Security page

Learning

I've found myself pretty busy this week, but very happy to be occupied with the work I am doing.

I've still found time to have some great and thought-provoking discussions about Eating Local. (But not to do the dishes).

I'm learning more and more about the myriad issues that come into play, namely: the environmental issue of the impacts of vegetarians who "go local" starting to eat meat again and the social issue of not supporting foreign economies. These are two issues I need to work through, and I didn't address them well enough in my previous post, so here is my second (first real?) attempt.

Currently I am thinking that eating a bit of local meat isn't so bad because there will always be people who eat meat. By admitting some meat and supporting those who do it well, I would be helping to develop sustainable local meat production (I obviously need to be pretty choosing if I'm going to do this well). In a month though I won't be able to cook meat at home (new house rules) so I'll either have to find a few restaurants that serve organic local meat (also preferably SPCA approved) or add nuts, lentils and grains from California or as far away as Manitoba to my exceptions. I was recently told that eating a serving of meat can negate the environmental benefits of eating locally for a week. I'm currently waiting for the study that found this to arrive in my inbox - I want to know what they considered as the environmental benefits and losses (energy? carbon/methane emissions? erosion? impact on biodiversity?). In my opinion this would have to be a pretty extensive study.

The second issue goes a bit over my head after too much thought because we end up in the realm of global economics. I say that people should live in tune with their own environment because that is what ultimately sustains them (the "carrying capacity" chart from population biology class is what comes to mind). I also think that poorer foreign nations would benefit from selling their food and supplies locally instead of a few farmers selling it for a larger profit overseas while the remainder of their kinsmen have to rely on rice and corn and whatever else we drop from airplanes as 'aid' (the alternative is idealistic, yes; possible, maybe). This brings us to the ever so large population problem. If we are to bring populations more in line with the environments that sustain them (avoiding large scale extreme poverty) then, as far as I know, the answer comes in the form of education and health care (bringing down the need or desire to have large families). The question is, does the funding for health care and infrastructure come from profits made off of exporting goods (food or other resources) or, I'm just thinking here, a different form of foreign aid (money and help in building schools and hospitals? Perhaps coming as retribution for having pumped so many greenhouse gases into the atmosphere?) See, I'm over my head. I feel like I know more this week than I did last though, so who knows, maybe I'll have the answer for you next week. haha. Or maybe you have the answer? Again, thoughts are welcome.

PS: my local food thus far has consisted largely of squashes, potatoes/yams/sweet potatoes, mushrooms, cheese, milk and juice. I'm about to make that potato-leek soup :)

A New Arrival

I was pretty ridiculously excited for my SPUD box to arrive today (a day later than I originally thought).

Here it is:

I've got milk, fresh spreadable cheese, bartlett pears, asian pears, onions, leeks, red potatoes, pear juice, sunchokes, and raisin bread.

Here's my bill:


You can see on it where things came from and SPUD's tally of the distance my food travelled from its last producer.

My thoughts:

1) Yey I have more local food!
2) Mmm bread, but I still don't know where all the ingredients came from so I feel a bit guilty
3) Too bad so much of it came in plastic bags (although biodegradeable, I still want to cut back, perhaps I'll put them back in the bin with a note asking them to reuse them next time?)
4) I have more to eat, but what am I going to make? Potato-leek soup? That sounds pretty good.
5) How do I cook a sunchoke?
6) I wonder how much all of this would have cost had I gotten it at the store? I don't think much more, and SPUD has a tool on their site that helps you estimate savings when you take into account mileage saved and such (saving the time is a big bonus for me). Also, if $40 worth of groceries works out to be the bulk of my food spending for the week I don't think this is too bad. I'm going to try to keep track of all my expenses over the next while to see how it works out. I aim to spend at very max $400/month on food. You have to consider though that I'm largely eating things right now that I bought a long time ago, that are just sitting in my kitchen and need to be eaten up (squashes, potatoes, cheese, rice, salad etc).

Well if any readers know of good sunchoke recipes please let me know. It will be the first I've tried them! (Hope they are yummy. I have no idea really)

Food Security critiques

So a friend of mine pointed me to some critiques of the local food movement. I think it's important to keep up with these dialogues as there is much to be learned. Hearing counter-arguments helps me think deeper about the movement, its goals and shortcomings.

Here is my summation of the arguments I've heard thus far:

AGAINST EATING LOCALLY

- Most of the greenhouse gas emissions from food come from its production, not transportation
- Sometimes imported foods are more efficiently produced
- Eating locally means driving more to find your food, contributing more pollution & GHGs
- Other lifestyles choices may be more important in saving the planet
- Food is one of the few products that poor countries can sell to the west
- Eating organic, vegetarian, vegan, or foods processed without the use of heavy machinery might be more important than eating locally.
- We don't have oil security, clothes security or electronics security etc so why food security?
- Nearly a third of the environmental impact of the food we eat is actually caused by us throwing food in the garbage.

ARGUMENTS FOR EATING LOCALLY

- Local food is fresher because it tends to be picked when ripe and shipped shorter distances
- We need to make sure that we can feed ourselves should something go awry with our global food system
- The average North American meal travels roughly 1,500 km before reaching our plates
- Local food is healthier, being fresher and less often genetically modified and/or sprayed with preservatives for shipping
- Eating local supports our local farmers: a dying breed who fill one of our most basic needs
- It is easier to find out where, how, and by whom your food is being processed when you are able to pinpoint or even meet the producers of your food
- Eating locally is not the be all and end all of the environmental movement. We can expand the concepts use in the local food mentality to create sustainable cities that engage in mindful trade without wrecking havoc on the planet through multiple avenues.
- The local food movement is part of a larger movement to consider the consequences of our lifstyle choice, composting projects are often seen alongside local food campaigns.

A few of my reflections:

- If you eat locally, but drive all over town/the province to find local food your positive impacts might be entirely negated. Same thing applies if you choose tomatoes from a greenhouse in December in Vancouver. Take transit to the store, or try a delivery company. Click on the Get Local link to find out what is local and in season.

- If we can buy from farms that use sustainable practices to grow, not giant tractors on swathes of decimated land we'll be doing a load more of good than the opposite. That is part of the eat local plan and I'll be doing my best to learn and share how this can be done.

- COMPOST! The nutrients we take from the land should go back to it, not be wrapped in plastic and left to decompose anoxicly in landfills, producing methane gas. For composting tips and ideas in Vancouver see the City Farmer link on the right, or check back to this blog, I'll explain how to set up a worm bin composter and keep it from smelling up your house.

- I just read in Businessweek Magazine (no joke) that even the head of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation thinks African cities should be producing food to feed themselves first: "If Ghana's farmers can find buyers for their crops, Raikes argues, they will have an incentive to make their land more productive and give this West African nation a more secure food supply" - Jay Greene, Blommberg Businesswekk Dec 14, 2009.

- Lastly, the fact that there are a million ways to be kinder to our life-sustaining Earth is exciting. Please don't assume that I think eating locally is the answer to all our problems, but it is a big part of the solution to at least a few of our problems (more on that later) and a great place to start.

I hope this helps! Constructive comments are welcome.

Oh yes, did I mention that this is a learning process? I doubt I would have thought so much about these issues had I not made this goal. It's all baby steps!

Happy day/night!

A not so local Monday

Hi all,

So I am officially 4 days in and I've got to say I'm not super proud of myself so far.

My food today:

Breakfast - a decent serving of plain local organic yoghurt from Delta, BC and a few organic crackers from Barnstable, MA (I'm thinking MA is Minnesota...I'm going to guess that's not very close)

Lunch - had made a nice lunch of various not so local items in my kitchen and then forgot it at home and thus had a few chocolates (Oh so not local!) that were in my office.

Dinner - ate a frozen pizza!!!! from producers in Ontario!!! (*Aghast*)

Finally I topped it all off with organic gummy bears from California! Bwaaahhh!

So I've got to say, my word, today was a bit of a giant failure! But gladly not in all respects.

I spent the evening looking at a new place to live which includes a giant backyard garden and 4 food-wise roomates. I'm thinking this is a great opportunity to share and grow and feel some support. That should make things easier in just about 3 weeks. Also, tomorrow I should come home to my SPUD bin full of BC and Washinton fare. For the past few days I've really been relying on my concession that I can eat whatever's currently in the house. As those things disappear I need to make sure there are local things to consume, or include a lot more local sooner so that it's an easier transition. I'm hoping the food bin that arrives tomorrow is inspiring and that this, paired with a weekly walk or bike to the farmer's market will be enough to form the basis of my new diet. We'll see!

Getting Started

For a million different reasons one of my New Year’s resolutions this year is to only eat foods grown and processed in BC and Washington… wow. Now that I’ve just finished ordering my weekly groceries through SPUD! the consequences of setting this goal are sinking in:

- no more Earthbound organic, prewashed spinach or salad mix! These come from California, just a smidge too far away. Task 1 for the New Year – find a replacement!

- no more Tahini AKA sesame butter – this is another one of my staples that I’ll need to give up – sesame seeds come from places like Ethiopia! (some do grow in the US though, so perhaps I’ll find a replacement soon enough, or I could try sourcing local pumpkin seed butter as I know pumpkins do grow here (in fact, I have one on my kitchen table at the moment).

- no Quinoa – at least not for the moment as I can’t seem to find out where it might grow locally.

How am I doing this?

As I ready myself for this adventure I know I need to lay some ground rules (some put in place so that I don’t starve, or get too stressed about this – after all, this should be a fun and rewarding experience).

Like Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon, authors of The Hundred Mile Diet, I’m allowing myself to eat up whatever is currently residing in my house, no matter the distance travelled. This will perhaps be a life saver as I currently have a decent stock pile of flour, sugar and rice which I’ll have to ween myself off of. I’m also following after the authors in including a few execptions, such as permitting myself to break the rules when (on odd occasions) eating out, at friends’ or travelling. Unlike them, I’m starting in January, not March and so there are a few additional items I’m going to add to my list of “acceptable” but not ideal: orange juice (currently addicted), green tea or matcha green tea, potentially Greens Plus (the green powder supplement I put in my orange juice) and I’ll also consider making grains like quinoa and flour grown and processed in California or the prairies a more permanent exception.

Also unlike Smith and MacKinnon (to the best of my knowledge) my goal is not to experience a year of local eating, but rather to fundamentally change my habits for the longterm, thereby increasing my health, reducing my feelings of guilt, and discovering and revelling in more and more delicious local fare.

Wish me luck!

Why am I doing this?

a) I think that purchasing and consuming products of all sorts that come from far away is a more destructive process than sourcing things locally. Why? Because, first off, transporting things around the world to get to my door requires the use of fossil fuels and the extraction, processing, and burning of these fuels is harmful to our environment. Secondly, because when we consume products from far far away we often don’t know what those products have been through, the conditions under which they were processed and the repercussions of that production. I’m going to also do my best to consume products that are grown organically, choosing smaller farms and operations over larger ones, eat in season produce as much as possible and avoid packaging (one of my other New Year’s resolutions is to only create 3 bags of garbage this year).

b) I work for a charitable environmental organization as an environmental educator specifically on the topic of local food security. I feel I’ve got to practice what I’m preaching in order for it to be authentic