Day 15: The halfway mark

So, honestly I'm kind of bored with posting pictures of my food, which kind of explains the lull in posting the last few days. Yesterday it was kale and potato soup and tonight it was a yummy roast with mashed root vegetables (parsnips, carrots, and turnips).



But, I decided since this is the halfway point, I'd stop and reflect on what I've learned so far. I've already mentioned that my original goal was all-out, no hold, local all the way. I've realized that was pretty impossible at about Day 3. I like a rule I found on another blog called the "Rule of Good Manners" meaning if you are at someone's house and they offer you non-local food, you are allowed to eat it. At the onset of the challenge I would have told you I can get by without that rule, but its saved me a few times.

I've learned a new way to decide what's for dinner. Many locavores will attest that you have to change the way you think about food. Before I would flip through food magazines and create a rough menu for the week, and then go to the store and buy the ingredients, seasonal or not. I've found now the only way to make this work is to evaluate what I have in the fridge and then browse cookbooks or recipes online to see what I can do with it. The recipe index in cookbooks, which I never used prior, has become my best friend. Reading other blogs has also helped give me ideas about what they've found at the market and fun things to do with it. The daily e-mail from NOFA-NY has also been a godsend. I am also lucky to have a great farmer who provides recipes in all of her CSA shares each week.

The last thing I've learned is that eating local is not as expensive or difficult as I thought it would be. You don't have to be 100% local to make a difference in the food system. If everyone just made the moderate effort I have, we could literally change the world. There's this misconception that eating local is crazy expensive. Well, it only gets expensive if you try to find replacements for everything you are currently eating. If you look at dinner in a different way and try new ways of using seasonal, local produce from the market, you can feed a family on even the most modest budget (which believe me, I have). The CSA is a perfect example. I spent $300 at the beginning of the year and now I can usually make at least two complete dinners from my basket each week. I supplement with food from the market, that's three more dinners and two nights of leftovers.

So in summary, I've learned that I can probably continue this effort past September, which makes me happy. There was an article I read once that said that people like to think that they are anti-big food companies, but do nothing to change it. Now I can say that I am doing it.