Barbara and her family decided to live on only local foods (with only a few exceptions) for a year. The book is a documentation of that year. They have their own farm and do the rest of their shopping at farmer's markets.
There have been many things that have slowly nudged me towards natural, local living. But this seems to be pushing me over. I love the idea of knowing where the food I eat comes from. And being connected to the land and people who produced it. I like looking forward to what there is instead of making lists of what I shouldn't have. It seems so obvious and ancient and tribal. I want more of this for my life.
As noted in past posts, I'm no farmer. My family would starve if we had to live off the land that I was tending. But the coolest thing happened this weekend to encourage local eating despite my farming ineptitude. We attended a birthday party in Wildomar (aprox 30 minutes away) for Caleb's uncle. On the way I was reading out loud from this book, and Caleb and I were hmmming and nodding as Barbara convinced us to support local farmers. Once at the party Aunt Karen invited me to pick some fruit from their trees. In the past this has meant oranges and lemons, which I am happy to receive for free. But right now their trees are loaded with apples, peaches, red plums and yellow plums. And soon there will be figs, oranges and apricots. She even gave me some eggs from her chicken. Amazing. The great part is she wants me to come back and pick as much as I want as often as I want. Which I will be doing again this week. With plans to can and/or jam some of it with Flo.
I don't want to feel guilty for eating processed crackers that were probably not made in California, or for buying mango from Mexico. But I am learning about the other options. I am seeing the beauty of sacrifice. I'm more conscious of the impact my food (and clothing and toy, etc) choices make on my health, my community and the environment. 
"Restraint equals indulgence" she says (p 32). I like this idea. Waiting for local, fresh, ripe food makes the coming of it so much sweeter. Maybe this will help me pass up those crackers and mango next week. 
We've decided to rejoin a local CSA: J.R. Organics. They have a farm in Escondido (30 minutes south) with lots of yummy produce. Our last CSA experience was positive, but I didn't know what to do with all the greens, and felt I was wasting too much food. Now, with my green smoothie drinking and motivation to support this farm I hope I will do better. They supply recipes for each item they send, so that should help too. I'll keep you posted.
3 comments:
How cool! Wow, I wish I could "shop" from a tree, too. I've thought alot about buying local since listening to Barbara's interview with you. It makes sense, saves money, tastes better...a CSA seems exciting because you get to be so creative with your food for the week. You're inspiring me! Thanks for sharing!
Your fruit looks so yummy! I can't wait to "put them up" with you. Even the language of local eating is fun!
This book is so inspiring- I'm really glad you're enjoying it.
I was watching planet green the other day and there was a man talking about how he will be in the store and see blueberries in the middle of winter in NY and think "ok do I really NEED these fruit or should I wait until next season..."
And it really does help when I think of it that way. I mean seasons are here for a reason (how funny I just wrote a blog on seasons) and the food produced during those seasons seem so much more valuable when we have to wait for them.
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