Looking back on local eating: part 1

The plan had been to blog our way through the month of September talking about becoming locavores. As it turned out, September is a really hard month to blog through when you're working and parenting full-time, struggling to pay your bills, and making plans for the future. Add to that the fun we had experimenting with being local consumers, and you've got a month of adventure and zero free time with which to blog about a runny nose. This, now, is our attempt to blog about our trials and triumphs in being locavores for a month, and the way that it has changed our lives forever.

It turns out that a 250 mile radius from our little village covers a good portion of New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and a tiny sliver of Canada and Pennsylvania. I wouldn't say we struggled to remain local, though sometimes we forgot and splurged on something silly like bananas (the only thing our one year old would eat for breakfast for a while). Still, I would say that our menu was able to be incredibly varied including locally raised beef and turkey, produce, honey and maple syrup, and a delicious box of wine that lasted us for the entire month! Supplementing what we already do with new experiences, made this a big success; and it has forever changed the way we eat and think about food.

Things we already do:

• make our own yogurt
• compost our kitchen scraps
• members of our local co-op
• shop road side garden stands and farmers' market(s)
• buy locally raised beef and other meats
• shop local bakeries

Things we added to our regular food routine:

• reading books and articles about food production
• watching films about food business
• processing apples and other produce to freeze and use later
• joined One Million Against Monsanto
• joined a winter CSA (saving for a summer CSA)
• Grew our own pumpkin (accidentally..it just grew in our compost pile)
• wrote letters to our Senators and Representatives re food issues
• enjoyed a box of local wine for the entire month