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