A reality television show is being filmed in my city for the Food Network. The show will be about 6 families who have agreed to be on a 100 mile diet for 100 days. This diet is all about eating local, consuming food that is grown and processed only within a 100 miles of your home.
J.B. MacKinnon and Alisa Smith are the writers whose book, The 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating (the book is entitled Plenty in the U.S.) inspired the show. And there they are in the above picture! They were at my local farmers market this weekend. I thought they were coming to make an appearance, maybe sign some books, but in fact they were being filmed for the show. See the camera person looking annoyed at the idiot who took this picture. That idiot is me of course. I accidentally had my camera set with the flash on. I then took a second picture STILL in flash mode, then fumbled with my camera to figure out why the flash kept going off. This third and final shot is just verifying that I'm an obnoxious fool according to this man and I've ruined part of their shoot. I'm sure they had to film it again, but I didn't wait to find out as I hustled my embarrassed butt out of there.
My friend Angela Rockett along with Tara Larsen Chang co-author a blog about their attempts to eat local food. There you'll find a great book list and links on the topic. Both are incredible artists as well and you can check out their art here and here.
As for me participating in the diet, I'll do my best, but I don't think I'm going for it 100%, UNLESS someone can genetically modify a coffee plant that will grow in cool, rainy Vancouver, then maybe... just maybe.
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Yes, I've heard of that book. If I'm not mistaken I think they were interviewed on CBC not too long ago. I try my best to eat locally but I must say my husband John is really committed to that philosophy. We have a farmers market which we visit every Saturday. It is wonderful to know the people who grow your food.
I was hoping to read that you were one of the six families!
Well, I can easily justify having to buy in things that wont grow here, so don't fret! Oh, I suppose Hamilton Island is less than 100 miles, but it's in the middle of the ocean!
Just now read Alisa and James' blog post about this project. http://100milediet.org/the-mission-100-mile-challengeSounds very cool.
You are too funny! I enjoyed catching up on your posts. The 100 mile diet sounds cool....but I don't know if it would work for me. I'm with ya on the coffee!
Melody: I agree it's such a great pleasure, buying food directly from farmers
Andrea: I'll say it again, NO CHANCE I'd let myself be filmed. Scary.
Dinah: I want to vacation there! There's a wheat farmer on Vancouver Island, the only one around within hundreds of miles, he's been flooded with demands for his wheat since people have taken up this cause, bread must be addictive.
Angela: it really has caught on. Yesterday, I was at the family owned grocer that will a be a central hub for this project. It posed a little dilema. There's not really much of anything ready to eat around here right now but lots of local, non organic, greenhouse grown peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers. I'm wondering if the carbon footprint of those foods is any better than an organic food grown farther away. I think I read the answer to that somewhere, but I can't remember, I'll have to look it up. And if you know it, let me know.
Blue: Good to hear from you blue. Yes, I'm dreaming of getting a pot started right now. Everyone need at least one vice.
I don't know exact numbers, and it probably depends on the type of greenhouse, but in general the carbon footprint of local food is much less than anything, organic or not, that comes from far away.
Since we live in much the same climate, I know your quandry, and I've given in quite a bit lately to the luscious produce from California. Trying to get back on track though.
Funny story.
There are so many criteria to determine what food is 'best' - local? organic? in season? - and not all are always compatible. For me personally, I react to chemicals so if I have to choose, I opt for organic over local, but *hopefully* summer will arrive *sometime* and at least for the seaon, there will be plenty of both available!
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