eat local challenge
self explanatory, right? and, after all my years of experience educating others about local, sustainable, ecologically sound agriculture (which is local, even more so than organic), would Amy do such a thing? Maybe i've been reading too much Michael Pollan. Maybe i'm not feeling hard core enough here surrounded by professional downhill mountain bikers and olympian beach volleyball players. or maybe i just want to sink into my watershed a little bit more.
eating a local (which i've defined as within a 100 mile radius of durango, because, HEY, i'm in between two mountain ranges and on the edge of a desert!) is much more of a challenge here than just about anywhere i've lived. during my years in california, i had the great blessing of living in two communities that insisted that at least 80% of our kitchen was stocked with foods that came from within a 60 mile radius of home (slide ranch and green gulch farm also had the benefits of on-site agriculture, so a good chunk of that food only travelled footsteps between earth and mouth). here, the majority of our agriculture is hay and livestock. eating local beef, pork, and buffalo shouldn't be a problem; however, nearly every grain, most dairy, and a large number of my favorite fruits and nuts are entirely out of range. as well as all oils and butters, too. my cooking medium is reduced to pork grease, just like my grandma used for beans and greens...
the last few days i've enjoyed a number of foods that are simply not an option for the next month (i chose the month of august since my garden will be a great source of fresh food, and our farmers' market should be peaking with produce i failed to grow myself, like corn and winter squash). I ate coconut ice cream, chocolate, avocadoes and blueberries, walnuts, macadamia nuts, wild salmon and buttered wheat bread, buttermilk waffles with maple syrup and peanut butter, homemade pesto with parmesan cheese and olive oil. i've sat on the back deck, watching the sunset with a few local beers--because, even though they're brewed locally, ingredients such as hops, wheat, sugar, and barley grow north or east of here by several hundreds of miles.
i'm grateful for my garden, to be sure. in the past few weeks, i've eaten bunches of kale, chard, spinach, cherry tomatoes, basil, cilantro, dill, arugula, mesclun, peas, and most recently, beets. in addition, i'll soon be harvesting potatoes, peppers, beans, radishes, celery and flax. the markets will feed me peaches, goat and cow cheese, eggs and chicken meat, beef and pork. my friend kristi is going to give me some fly fishing lessons...hopefully she'll catch something. the mountains are yielding thimbleberries, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, serviceberries, currants, and edible roots like wild carrot, sunchoke, osha and onion. town lots house old apricot, apple and plum trees ripening with fruit, and every corner has its stash of dandelion, lambsquarter, pigweed and purslane. as long as my inner scavenger comes forth with willingness and gratitude, i should eat like a queen.
we'll see how it goes. i've already decided that i do get one completely non-local item--coffee. fortunately, i drink it black.
eating a local (which i've defined as within a 100 mile radius of durango, because, HEY, i'm in between two mountain ranges and on the edge of a desert!) is much more of a challenge here than just about anywhere i've lived. during my years in california, i had the great blessing of living in two communities that insisted that at least 80% of our kitchen was stocked with foods that came from within a 60 mile radius of home (slide ranch and green gulch farm also had the benefits of on-site agriculture, so a good chunk of that food only travelled footsteps between earth and mouth). here, the majority of our agriculture is hay and livestock. eating local beef, pork, and buffalo shouldn't be a problem; however, nearly every grain, most dairy, and a large number of my favorite fruits and nuts are entirely out of range. as well as all oils and butters, too. my cooking medium is reduced to pork grease, just like my grandma used for beans and greens...
the last few days i've enjoyed a number of foods that are simply not an option for the next month (i chose the month of august since my garden will be a great source of fresh food, and our farmers' market should be peaking with produce i failed to grow myself, like corn and winter squash). I ate coconut ice cream, chocolate, avocadoes and blueberries, walnuts, macadamia nuts, wild salmon and buttered wheat bread, buttermilk waffles with maple syrup and peanut butter, homemade pesto with parmesan cheese and olive oil. i've sat on the back deck, watching the sunset with a few local beers--because, even though they're brewed locally, ingredients such as hops, wheat, sugar, and barley grow north or east of here by several hundreds of miles.
i'm grateful for my garden, to be sure. in the past few weeks, i've eaten bunches of kale, chard, spinach, cherry tomatoes, basil, cilantro, dill, arugula, mesclun, peas, and most recently, beets. in addition, i'll soon be harvesting potatoes, peppers, beans, radishes, celery and flax. the markets will feed me peaches, goat and cow cheese, eggs and chicken meat, beef and pork. my friend kristi is going to give me some fly fishing lessons...hopefully she'll catch something. the mountains are yielding thimbleberries, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, serviceberries, currants, and edible roots like wild carrot, sunchoke, osha and onion. town lots house old apricot, apple and plum trees ripening with fruit, and every corner has its stash of dandelion, lambsquarter, pigweed and purslane. as long as my inner scavenger comes forth with willingness and gratitude, i should eat like a queen.
we'll see how it goes. i've already decided that i do get one completely non-local item--coffee. fortunately, i drink it black.
posted by amy at
8:13 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home