Crystal Clear

How much money would it take for you to say something you know is wrong, or to say something on a topic you don’t know much about?

The more credetials you have (ie. prestige), would mean you could demand more money.

And who would be the wiser? Until someone finds out. But by then, your professional or scientific ‘opinion’ has been in the press. The ‘damage’ has already been done.

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Some time ago one of my friends organized an Eat Local Challenge. This means that for a specific length of time, we would eat only food that is grown and processed within 100 miles from where we live. My husband and I decided we’d try it. We started on September 15.

We didn’t do a lot of preparation until the week before. Luckily our friends had done some leg work to find some staples like flour and oats. They also picked a great time (fall harvest) and we live in Southern Ontario so we do have many options.

But, it has definitely been an adjustment, but one I’ve found I’ve truly enjoyed. Here are some low points and some highlights:

1. I miss pasta and I miss rice. We don’t really grow the flour to make pasta in this area, and I don’t have a pasta maker to make whole wheat stuff, so we’ve cut this out. Rice is obviously not local, so that’s gone too.
2. I’ve learned to like honey. There is no local sugar, so my only options for sweeteners have been honey and maple syrup. I am much more conscious about the amount of sugar I use, and I use less – which is always a good thing!
3. I miss bananas in my smoothies. It’s just the same without them.
4. I don’t dislike potatoes as much as I thought. They are our main carbohydrate besides bread. We eat our bread sparingly though, since we have to make it ourselves and that takes time.
5. I not as picky about the foods I eat as much as I used to be. When I’m hungry, stale bread, or another piece of fruit, or something bland is just fine!

We’re not legalistic about every item, but I think we’ve made a good commitment. I’m lactose intolerant, so I still buy my soy milk (from BC), and we still use margarine. My husband still drinks his coffee (fair trade, locally roasted) and eats breakfast cereal (locally made, not with all local ingredients). We still use spices in our dishes. But, for the large things, we’re committed.

Here’s the foods we eat a lot of (all local): wheat, oats, flax, cornmeal, peanut oil, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, zucchini, onions, beans, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, peaches, pears, apples, pork, beef, cheese, homemade jam, milk, yogurt, honey, maple syrup.

Our favourite dishes have been chili with cornbread and oatmeal pancakes with yogurt and maple syrup.

We’ll be done mid October and then we’ll have to decide what we can continue and what we will revert to our ‘old’ way of purchasing. It will be harder to eat local after the fall harvest, so we’ll have to take that into account also.

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