Suburban Foraging: Two Families Eat Only Local

(Page 5 of 5)

August/September 2006
 
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Perhaps even more gratifying, we’ve sparked conversations with local farmers and retailers about expanding the availability of local foods, and introducing new products, such as bread baked with local flour. As we’ve turned many of our friends, relatives and neighbors onto local food, we hope to see it become less of an adventure in foraging and more of an accessible choice for everyday eating.

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EPILOGUE

Nearly a year after our all-or-nothing experiment, both our families still rely heavily on our local foodshed. We don't deny ourselves the pleasure of tropical fruits or fair trade coffee, but we buy local first and definitely purchase more local items than we used to.

The more we discuss local food, the more suppliers we discover. A conversation with the general manager of a neighborhood natural foods co-op, for example, resulted in higher-profile labeling of local products in the store. The bright yellow star that signifies "locally made" has led us to amazing discoveries, like tofu made from organic Virginia soybeans.

We've also found the general interest in local food to be widespread and growing. As many friends and neighbors continued to ask about our experiment, we recently hosted a neighborhood information session to share our months of research on local food.  Thrilled to see more than 40 people attend, we quickly ran out of the 6 quarts of pick-your-own organic blueberries we offered as a snack, along with Virginia peanut butter and homemade wild yeast sourdough bread. Folks were not only interested in our food sources, but also wanted to hear how our children and husbands reacted to the local food, what our motivation was, and how we made it convenient and affordable.

We truly believe the more consumers seek local food, the more farmers will find it a viable economic opportunity, strengthening our local food system, local businesses and communities all at the same time.

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