1- Go early!  Boggy Creek and most farmers markets have a very short window of open hours - Boggy Creek is open from 9-1 on Saturdays and Wednesdays.  They open at 9 because they spend most of their morning harvesting the veggies that customers will be buying later on - great for me, since I'm not an early riser, but the small window of time makes finding what you want a challenge.  On the mornings that I've gone at 10:30, I've been disappointed with only snagging a few small tomatoes, some salad greens, and some items from the dairy fridge.   The trick is to get there within the first hour of opening.  Today I got there at 9:45 and there was MUCH to choose from, all sorts of vegetable pretties, some I'd never even heard of!  Check out the bounty I brought home!

2- Dig around!  It took me awhile to get comfortable enough at Boggy Creek to start rooting through nooks and crannies, but sometimes that's what it takes to find what you want.  Check the website of your grower to see if they have a list of current offerings.  If you don't remember seeing something on the list at the market, ask them about it or look a little harder!  I had no idea my local farm offered bison, beef & lamb from Texas ranches that give their animals a good life by feeding them grass (no pellet corn product), and allowing them to be truly free-range animals.  This week I did a little digging and found much more than a freezer stocked with meat - I found ice cream too!  WooHoo!

3- Bring your own bags, and feel free to ask the farm hands if they accept returned packaging, like egg cartons or produce baskets.  Nothing's better than feeling good about buying local, reducing waste & giving back to the farm that feeds you!

I work in downtown Minneapolis, and every summer there is a farmer's market on Thursdays. I'm sorry to say I haven't taken advantage of it very often. Things get busy in the office, and I never quite make it over to Nicollet Mall. Since I need other items at the grocery store anyway, it's just easier to get my produce there.

This week was different. My bus was detoured, so I ended up passing the market on the street, rather than seeing it from the skyways. As I walked past a stall, I saw the most beautiful butternut squash. Butternuts can be hard to come by where I shop. They tend to have one bin for all squash varieties, and the butternuts are often picked out before I ever get to the store. My stomach has been upset this week, however, and butternut squash sounded like just the thing, so I made a point of going to the market.

While I was there, I also picked up lettuce for my birds, and a powerfully fragrant bunch of basil for myself. I'm not exaggerating on the potency of the basil. Even in a plastic bag and shoved into a drawer, the scent of basil permeated the air in my vicinity. I hope my co-workers didn't mind. It nearly gave me a headache, but I think it will be worth it when I make a bean/basil/spinach pesto this weekend.

Anyway, when I feel a bit more financially secure, I want to buy a small chest freezer. I would love to find some locally-raised meat that was produced without hormones and antibiotics. I no longer eat beef because of the crap that is given to cattle. In fact, it occurred to me this morning to Google to find out when bovine growth hormone was first introduced to dairy cows. Turns out it was approved in 1993 and used beginning in 1994. Guess when my first dairy allergy symptoms appeared?

Hmmm. There are certainly people on the net who think rBGH is behind dairy allergy. I'm leaning toward thinking they are right. Would I be able to have milk and cheese again if I bought rBGH-free? It would be worth a try someday, but only when I can bring myself to risk becoming incredibly ill.

The last time I accidentally consumed a single bite of cheese, I was extremelly ill for three or four days, then not feeling so hot for about three weeks afterward. I had a massive headache, muscle and joint pain, a racing heart, and a cloudy mind that was having trouble focusing. That's a lot to go through if rBGH isn't behind my problem. And who knows--it might just be that rBGH triggered my body to become allergic to milk protein itself, in which case, it's too late to go back.

Google proved to be a wealth of information about freezing tomatoes. Most resources recommended blanching them and removing the skins and seeds. That sounded like far too much work. I remembered reading in Mother Earth News that it was possible to freeze whole tomatoes raw, skins and all. I found what I wanted at a website called Tomato Casual. The instructions are brief, because the process is so easy:

Keep in mind that you should always start with firm, ripe, deep red tomatoes and always wash them and cut away the stem scars and any imperfections before beginning. 

Freezing tomatoes with skins on:

Simply place the clean, groomed tomatoes on cookie sheets and then in the freezer. When the tomatoes are frozen, transfer them to plastic freezer bags or other freezer-safe containers. When you’re ready to use them, take out as many as you’ll need and simply run them under warm water; the skins should come off easily.

Now this sounded like something I could handle! I decided to freeze the tomatoes on a cookie sheet and transfer them to a ziplock bag when they were frozen, like I do with berries. A whole cookie sheet seemed too heavy and unwieldy, though, so I used a toaster-oven pan.

After a few hours in the freezer, I transferred the tomatoes to a ziplock bag.

Now I have a bag full of what looks like red billiard balls in my freezer! How will they taste? That remains to be seen. They will be mushy, for sure, and only good for soups, sauces, and the like. I will keep you posted!

I didn't fare very well in the challenge today because I haven't had a chance to go grocery shopping.  Once I have a chance to hit Clear Brook, the Village Peddler and the Wayside, I'll be in good shape, but I don't expect to be able to go shopping until my lunch break tomorrow. Work is crazy, which is not unusual.

Breakfast: 1/2 a home-made banana crunch muffin washed down with Trader Joe's coffee.  Even though the muffin is home-made, none of its ingredients are local. The bananas are grown in Ecuador. .

Mid-morning snack (consumed at noon EDT): The other 1/2 of the banana crunch muffin plus a  Stonyfield yogurt. Stoneyfield yogurt is made in N.H., so at least I'm getting closer to Vermont.

Lunch (consumed at 3 PM EDT): Teleion Holon hummus (finally! A local product!), Ritz crackers, Trader Joe's corn chips and Cabot cheddar cheese. I have no bread in my house, therefore I couldn't make a sandwich.

Dinner: It's going to have to be Putney Pasta. We have a package in the freezer.  Otherwise it's bacon and eggs.

Before I unveil my strategy, let's look at what I typically eat on a daily basis to see the extent to which I'm going to have to change my diet.

Meridith's Week Day Diet

Breakfast: Cereal (typically Kashi Heart to Heart, Kashi Strawberry Fields or Barbara's Shredded Oats) with Organic Cow skim milk and Trader Joe's French Roast coffee.

Mid-morning snack: Fruit and almonds. This time of year, the fruit is usually a locally grown peach or melon. I've no idea where the almonds came from before they hit the shelf at Price Chopper.

Lunch: Hummus sandwich made with whole grain Battenkill Bread, slathered with Teleion Holon hummus and piled high with sliced tomatoes from Clear Brook Farm, Cabot extra sharp cheddar cheese and sprouts. I munch on Trader Joe's corn chips between bites of my oozing sandwich.

Après déjeuner gourmandise: Usually a home-made sweet if I baked over the weekend. If not, a packaged cookie. Lately it's been Pepperidge Farm Piroulines. They're totally addictive and really good when I'm on deadline, which is approximately every other day.

Mid-afternoon snack: Could be ice cream (usually Wilcox, which is local). Could be Ritter chocolate (not local.) Could be Cabot cottage cheese and Ritz crackers. Could be Rondelé garlic and herb cheese spread on Ritz crackers. Rarely is it Stonyfield yogurt (made in New Hampshire). Most likely more Pepperidge Farm cookies.

Dinner: A steak from Price Chopper, locally grown salad, and for a starch, either Near East couscous, polenta with lots of parmesan cheese, some kind of noodle or rice.

So what's going to have to change?

My Strategy for Surviving the Eat Local Challenge

Breakfast: I'll have to replace my Trader Joe's coffee with beans roasted in Vermont, which I can find at the Wayside Country Store.  Cereal, on the other hand, will be a challenge to procure. I don't know of any cereals made in Vermont, and I certainly can't start my day with a bowl of flakes manufactured in La Jolla, California during a Southwestern Vermont Eat Local Challenge.  So cereal appears to be out of the question for the week.  Dommage.  What to eat instead? Bacon and eggs and toast, I guess. I can already feel my arteries clogging...

Mid-morning snack: I can continue eating fruit from Clear Brook Farm, but it's ixnay on the almondsay. I'm not sure what to snack on in lieu of almonds. Some granola perhaps? The yogurt I always intend to eat but never do? Frankly, I'd rather have yogurt and granola for breakfast, to break up the bacon and eggs routine. Anyone have any recommendations for what I can eat with my fruit for a healthy mid-morning snack?

Lunch: The Spiral Press Cafe could sell my colossal hummus sandwich as a "localvore's lunch" since they're created entirely with food made nearby. I will, however, need to identify a replacement chip. Hopefully I'll find something at Clear Brook Farm or at the Wayside. If I tire of hummus sandwiches, Clear Brook Farm sells amazing smoked turkey from a smokehouse near Stratton (Green Mountain Smokehouse, I think), so I can fix myself a turkey sandwich or even a Cobb Salad (minus the avocado). Egg salad sandwiches may also be an option provided I can find mayo made in Vermont.

Après déjeuner gourmandise: It's at this point during the day where my effort to eat healthy gets derailed by a looming deadline and where I suspect my effort to adhere to a localvore diet may get sabotaged by my Id (I MUST HAVE PIROULINE COOKIES!) Does anyone know of any locally made cookies? Oh, I know. There's a woman in Sandgate who makes delicious shortbread cookies. Vermont Moonlight Cookies. Clear Brook Farm sells them.  (Good old Clear Brook.) I can also buy the maple creme sandwich cookies that The Village Peddler in Arlington sells and that I love so much.  If I'm craving chocolate, the Wayside sells Lake Champlain Chocolates. I can also walk to the Village Peddler, which sells home-made chocolates.

Mid-afternoon snack: Vermont is famous for its dairy products, so I don't have to skimp when it comes to my preferred snack of cheese and crackers. I'll have to replace Ritz crackers with Vermont Common Crackers or with those Saltine-like crackers that I buy at the Village Peddler.

Dinner: I don't know what Eric and I are going to eat for supper. Obviously, steaks from Price Chopper are a big no-no this week, and unfortunately, I don't have a chicken from Two Spoon Farm in the freezer. I've seen sausage that's made in Vermont at Shaw's in Manchester. We can have that one night. I've also seen Kielbasa at Clear Brook Farm, made by that Green Mountain Smokehouse. McKenzie hotdogs are another option.  That's a lot of meat in casing, but I don't think I have much choice.

What else can Eric and I eat for dinner? Too bad we cleaned out all the game from our freezer the other week.  Oh, I know: I've seen rabbit at the Wayside.  That makes four meals, but I need a few more. Putney Pasta? That would work, but I'd rather eat pasta as a side dish than as a main course. I might have to finally venture to the Merck Forest in Rupert for a steak, but I likely won't have time to drive up there before the weekend.

What else can I make for dinner? Egg salad? Bacon and eggs? Pancakes? Now I'm really getting desperate. I haven't even considered starches to go on the side. Corn on the cob?

What will you be having for dinner, and can Eric and I join you?

As you can see, I've given some thought to what I can (and can't) eat this week. I have more options than I realized, but it still may not be enough to keep me sane for a week (okay, I admit, for five days. I'm in Massachusetts for work today and tomorrow, and I can't realistically start this Eat Local Challenge until I return to Vermont.) I suspect I'll be eating a lot of eggs, cheese, chocolate and ice cream. I  now realize I'm also going to have to find some local red wines to offset all of this cholesterol, but more and more wineries are popping up in the Green Mountain State.

Once I get back to Vermont on Wednesday, I'll report on everything I eat over the next week.

Let me know if you're participating in the Southwestern Vermont Eat Local Challenge (or any Eat Local Challenge), what you're planning to eat, and if you've found a cereal (not granola) made in Vermont (not to mention something else I can eat besides almonds.)

Eating 100% local year-round in Vermont is probably not feasible, although there are some people who have come darn close. I see local eating as a continuum, looking something like this:

1. Growing it yourself
2. Buying directly from a farmer
3. Buying local products from a local store
4. Buying products made locally from non-local ingredients (example: locally baked bread)
5. Buying non-local products in a local independent market
6. Buying non-local products in a chain store

I'm sure I missed a step or two, but that's the general idea.

And why strive to eat local? Reasons will vary from person to person. Some reasons might be:

• Support local businesses
• Keep your money in the community
• Fresher food, resulting in higher nutrient levels and better taste
• Less fuel used for transport, resulting in a smaller carbon footprint (it takes a lot of diesel to drive a refrigerated truck to Vermont from California!)
• Knowing your source: by meeting the farmer who grows your food, you can find out exactly how it was produced and be more confident in its quality

I'm hardly a localvore purist. Far from it: I've just been learning about the localvore movement over the past few months, and while I've been buying from farmer's markets during the summer for many years, my family happily ate (organic) bananas and salad all last winter without thinking much about it. Lately I've been thinking about it a lot, and wondering how we can be more local eaters. I'm hoping this blog will help people learn about eating local, and help connect eaters with local farmers.

September 18th is the 4th Annual Select Michigan Day Farm Market, to be held on the front lawn of the Capitol in Lansing. I went to the Buy Local Day back in July and found some cool stuff including veggies I'd never seen before, like water spinach (which sauteed up quite nicely in a little sesame oil).  I'll be there on the 18th to load up my bags again. And this time, I'm taking more money!

Also on the 18th is the Michigan Food and Farming Systems 10th Anniversary Benefit Reception.

Founded in 1998, MIFFS is a statewide membership organization (501c3) whose purpose is to promote diverse efforts that foster and sustain food and farming systems that improve Michigan’s economy, environment and social well-being.  MIFFS focuses its programs around assisting family farmers to develop entrepreneurial business, marketing, production and management skills to sustain their farming operations; growing market opportunities by linking consumers, communities and farmers; supporting agricultural stewardship and sustainable production; and informing and influencing public policy and institutional decisions that impact family farms.

The benefit costs $100 but $80 is tax deductible.  The night will include dinner and drinks and a keynote address by Oran Hesterman, CEO of The Fair Food Foundation of Ann Arbor. The Fair Food Foundation works with primarily urban communities to guarantee access to fresh produce via the development of urban gardens.  The deadline to sign-up for the Benefit is Tuesday, September 9th.

Alas, I won't be attending the benefit, even though it does sound like an interesting night. But, that happens to be the same night as a cooking class I am considering at Le Chat Gourmet in Eaton Rapids.  I get hungry just looking at the calendar of classes.

It could be a busy week of shopping at the local markets next week. For those that feel up to it, The Lansing LocalVore Challenge is September 13-20.  You can read all the details of the challenge HERE.  You can do it for one day, a couple of days or even the whole week.  Whatever you choose, during the challenge days, your task is to eat only food grown within 100 miles of your home. For us in Lansing, that gets you all the way to West Branch (north) and down in to Ohio.  It even gets you in to Windsor.  Based on the aforementioned cooking class, a full week committment is probably out for Chris and I but I'll be working out a short version of the challenge for us. I'm eager to try out some of the local meats currently being carried at the Lansing City Market.