One of my goals for 2011 is to eat more local food, as much as I can manage. Our household has several adults coming and going, and we cook lots from scratch. Food is important to us, we are lucky to be self-employed and we make time to eat well most days. Good food is the fuel for good work and a good life.
Over the summer I started buying garden produce from George Peabody. He delivered it right to my door every Friday and I could choose what we wanted to order. Delicious and no more griping about ending up with the "slow" cashier uptown. In August I purchased 20 beautiful 'braids' of organic garlic at the Dooryard Market. We've always bought our grains and cereals direct from Speerville, as well as local eggs from the Lawson family farm and local maple syrup from peddlars on the roadside.
Then in the fall, our tomato bounty harvest came due, and that kept us going for at least five weeks. Our friends planted oodles of tomatoes in May and then promptly moved to PEI in August, leaving us with the delicious spoils of their labour. I also started ordering food from Buckwheat Flats food delivery service in Knowlesville - mostly meat for the carnivores in the house but also some tasty Indian treats, pitas and delicious organic cider. They also deliver, which seems like such a luxury in the era of self-scan check outs.
Stu & Nancy in Speerville (call 277-6301) have a wonderful organic food /farm delivery service too.
I happened across these blogs about local food, complete with recipes. Here's a directory to help you find more good stuff grown in our neighbourhood. Real food tastes better, make me feel great, and helps me support the local economy. Here's a great little article about how three recipes can get you off the fast-food spiral and into healthy and cheap eating. So, just to recap, here are your standard excuses for not eating locally:
1. No time
(for home deliveries?!)
2. Only available in summer
(not anymore!)
3. Too expensive
(How often do you pay $$$ to eat out? You are voting with your food dollars)
4. Need meat not just veggies
(lots of local cows, chickens and pigs . . .)
5. Want prepared items, not just raw food
(they have this too!)
I am telling you, eating locally will improve your life. And it will change the world. So what are you waiting for?
2 comments:
Thanks for the shout-out! 2011 is a great time to start eating local and we're so fortunate that NB has as many resources as it does. I was surprised during my Christmas visit to Ontario to talk with friends and discover how few of them are eating locally, despite living so close to the banana belt.
NB has tremendous resources and a major communication problem.
People here are so spread out and need to be encouraged to work together to make local networks (whether for food, education, the arts, technical trades) possible and hopefully even vibrant.
Hats off to you locavores and happy eating :)
Post a Comment