NEWS: Group Launches Campaign to Eat Local - Capital Press - Agricul

[Guest guest]

Hmm... Maybe this is something ISKCON farmers should promote to their

local congregation...

 

ys

hkdd

 

******************

 

Capital Press Argriculture Weekly 7/15/05

 

www.capitalpress.info

 

 

Women celebrate coming home to eat

 

 

 

BERKELEY Calling themselves Locavores, four Northern California

women are crusading for people to only buy and eat local food during

August.

 

 

 

That means food that is grown within a 100-mile radius of where you

live, said Jessica Prentice. The average plate of food travels 1,500

miles to get to your plate. By the time it arrives it has lost most of

its flavor and a lot of fossil fuels have been used to transport it.

Thats the biggest reason for eating within your food shed.

 

 

 

The honor system campaign was hatched earlier this year when friends

Sage Van Wing, Lia McKinney, Dede Sampson and Prentice gathered to share

a meal of locally grown vegetables, meats and fruits.

 

 

 

They began to talk more about the value of fresh ingredients to

themselves and the planet.

 

 

 

Prentice, a chef and former director of the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market

here, recently finished a book, Thirteen Moons: Food and the Hunger for

Connection, in which she lists foods to eat in abundance and in season.

For example, during June or July when summer arrives feast on honey,

sweet corn, tomatoes, fresh lavender, green beans, apricots, salmon,

buffalo, beef and homemade ice cream.

 

 

 

At the height of summer, July or August, eat basil or other fresh herbs,

eggplant, peppers, heirloom tomatoes, peaches, nectarines, salmon,

cucumbers, melon and grapes.

 

 

 

We are basically just remembering how people used to eat before World

War II, she said. Families ate local produce and they ate together.

 

 

 

Sampson was quick to point out the Locavores are omnivores not

vegetarians, neither counting calories nor totally against all imported

foods. Small quantities of chocolate, coconut milk, vanilla, black

pepper, maple syrup and Parmesan cheese are examples.

 

 

 

We have such a bounty in California that we need to explore and eating

apples from New Zealand or plums from Australia makes no sense when our

seasonal food shed is unsurpassed, she said. Asparagus season is a

great example. I eat it until Im truly sick of it and then I say

goodbye until next year.

 

 

 

The group picked August as the target month because it is the zenith of

the growing season. Both women rhapsodized about the beauty and taste of

a salad of vine-ripened heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil drizzled with

locally made olive oil.

 

 

 

In spite of their passion for eating locally produced foods, there are

some things they said they would miss during August.

 

 

 

Giving up coffee will be tough particularly because August is great

iced coffee weather, Sampson said. Green tea is grown locally but no

one has come up with a coffee substitute.

 

 

 

Prentice, who said she would miss eating bananas and tropical fruits,

suggested concocting a brew made of dried, chopped and boiled dandelion

roots. It has the smoky taste but no caffeine.

 

 

 

The pair said locally grown meals dont have to be intricate culinary

works of art. People can begin by visiting local farmers markets, asking

questions about the origin of the produce and purchasing grass-fed beef,

simple vegetables, fruits and locally made breads.

 

 

 

We need to keep agriculture close, Prentice said. The more

diversified it is the safer it is for everyone.

 

 

 

For more information about the project visit www.locavores.com.