uvlocalvores : field notes

Kudos to all who took part in the September Localvore Challenge and/or supported a growing regional food self-reliance! You shopped at farms and farmers markets, grew your own veggies, experimented with new localvore recipes, organized potlucks, canned, and froze and pickled and dried foods, learned more about our local food shed, and, in general, helped bring power over our food system back into our local communities. Thanks to all who took the time to respond to the Post-Challenge Survey. (If you didn’t officially register or didn’t take the survey, your comments are still welcome: email pmcgovern(at)valley.net ) Here are some of the results:

What did you get from taking the September Localvore challenge?

“As always, it was great to take advantage of all the great local food we have.”

“I tried some new things this year. I made pizza dough for the first time in my life, and it really wasn’t too bad. And I tried polenta . . . I did try recipes both from the upper valley localvore page and from some of the other localvore links. I was better organized this year, and prepared some things in advance of the challenge period, which helped tremendously.”

“I found it EASY to made bread (and with sourdough starter, not yeast), found my old pasta maker, made polenta, no problems there! I do historical cooking at it was interesting how much was NOT localvore - people did trade, (salt pork, things like allspice, salt cod).”

“A feeling that the tide is beginning to turn . . .”

“a greater awareness of the variety of foods that are available to us and how much I take for granted the availability of locally made, but not locally sourced, food”

“I learned with a little extra planning, I can eat locally a fair amount of the time.”

“Always positive; a good feeling of self reliance.”

“Made me more aware of foods that are available in the area.” “Enjoyed trying to plan meals using local products, although not always successful at it.”

“My husband and I found it wonderful to see and hear how many people were doing it! I found that more people in the UV were doing it than over the hill in Chelsea where I live. I loved the recipes that were around–a big hit at our house was the cantaloupe salsa.”

“I found it more difficult to adhere to it this year, as compared to last b/c the kids eat so much more than they did last year and always wanted something “NOW” which contained peanut butter. Early on they also became anit-vegetable, which had never been a problem in the past… then I found a new cookbook (“Farmer John’s Cookbook” from the Angelic Organics CSA in Chicago) and we got back on track.”

“Each time I have attempted the challenge, the main effect is that I increase my awareness of local food issues. It is enjoyable, and I never do as well as I would like.”

“I was surprised how much better I felt eating food with fresh ingredients. And totally removing any processed food from my diet. I realized just what is available in our area to eat during Sept.”

“I spent several discrete days 100% localvore, but found a whole month too overwhelming. I did work hard to eat only local produce, but my spouse was not willing to give up certain items that are only non-local (such as lemons/limes). I found myself very aware of what I was eating on any given day. Some easy switches were to only buy VT dairy.”

“This was my sixth Localvore challenge so the learning curve was not so steep. I really enjoyed the Kick-Off at King Arthur - all the buzz about local food . . . and the delicious melon salsa and frittata!”

What did you find most difficult?

The most common comment was lack of time – lack of time to look for and to prepare local foods. Ex. “I fell into ruts of eating the same foods daily instead of trying new things.” “fitting it into a hectic schedule” “Shopping and meal preparation was more rigorous and time consuming. “

Other comments included frustration at not having beans, grains and pasta, vegetable oil, peanut butter and salty snacks, lack of family support; the absence of “local” labeling at the Hanover Co-op (with appreciation expressed for the good labeling at UVFC); difficulty finding unsweetened soy milk; difficulty in eating away from home.

Note:

* Our society has changed dramatically now that more women work outside the home and many people are working very long hours; one societal response has been convenience foods, most of which are not healthy. Localvores will need to develop a repertoire of easy-to-prepare recipes . . . and maybe we all need to find ways to slow down, to share the task of food preparation, and to enjoy shared meals?

* As to lack of dried beans, NOFA-VT had a session on Dried Beans at their Winter Conference in an attempt to encourage farmers to grow more. Ben Gleason of Bridport grew 1400 pounds of beans for the first time this summer, and they were all gone in two weeks! Farmers need to know that there is a demand before they commit to growing a new crop – the demand is definitely there.

* Vegetable oil: Butterworks supplies the Upper Valley Food Co-op with their sunflower oil and it is the only local oil that we know of. It comes in a liter bottle and carries a hefty price – some of us split the bottle so as to make it more easily affordable.

* Lack of local grain is a problem. Growing wheat in our wet climate is tricky. Great River Farm lost their “bread” wheat crop this summer, and they and Butterworks lost their “pastry” wheat last summer (lost to fusarium). There is an effort through UVM Extension to breed a wheat that will do well in VT. There is also a rice-growing experiment in Westminster, VT.

Is there anything that would have made the challenge easier?

“Living in southern Italy/Greece? Support network here is better than I would have expected so, really, all that would have been better is better planning on my part - something I very much plan to take to heart for the winter challenge.” ( Most people mentioned availability of certain goods, better labeling at grocery stores, or better organization of their own lives. Some who had taken the challenge for a month said it was too long; it is likely that Upper Valley Localvore Challenges will be week-long in the future.)

Did you take advantage of any of the participating restaurants?

Respondents ate at The Farmers Diner, UVFC, Seasons, Tip Top, the Norwich Inn, and Stellas. Some commented that most of the restaurants were high-end and too expensive for their frugal lifestyle. There were several raves about Seasons, and many appreciations for UVFC. At least 2 groups went to Norwich Inn and found waitstaff knowing nothing about a Localvore Challenge. The motivation to get restaurant participation is 2-fold: To provide a break for Challenge-takers and to encourage local restaurants to develop a repertoire of meals using local ingredients. Not sure that this was worth the effort of those of us who worked on restaurant participation.

“I was really wowed by Seasons Restaurant, the food was terrific. I had a nice meal at the Tip Top Cafe as well — not as elaborate as Seasons, but still nice. I really appreciated being able to take a couple of nights off from cooking.” “The waiter (Norwich Inn) had no idea they were participating and told me I could have a green salad. “ “Tip Top didn’t have the localvore special when I anticipated it.” “The UV Food Co-Op is knowledgeable and great” “ I really enjoy the Farmer’s Diner, and ate there frequently BEFORE the challenge. I don’t like that they started closing earlier DURING the challenge. I tried to go there for dinner once with my family, and they had closed at 3 pm.” (Note: The Farmers Diner had had a break-in; a safe was stolen and their office and computers were trashed.) “Farmer’s Diner is very uneven - staff, food both - but we continue to persevere in order to support the concept.” ” Stella’s and UVFC are consistent pleasures.”

Any other comments?

“This was fun and really interesting. I think I will keep going at a certain level. The first thing I did when the month was out was eat chocolate.”

“Pleasantly surprised by the substitution of wheat berries for steel cut oats as breakfast cereal as well as rice and other grains.”

“Great fun, but a bit long this time. We will be focusing on eating more seasonally this winter.”

“I wish grocery stores–especially the Hanover Co-op–would really embrace local foods and stop promoting all their international produce.”

“We will continue to buy much more locally, thanks to this experience. ”

“I love eating locally, thanks for organizing the challenge!”

Pat McGovern

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It feels good to me to track places where it seems like the localvore concept is explained pleasantly and succinctly… I set a up a Google alert for “localvore” a couple of weeks ago and this link from a Mass. paper came across this morning. Something to point interested friends or family members at?

Becoming a localvore

-jenna

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Apologies if this is a bit off-topic, shopping locally is part of the whole local mojo for me! The next time you travel, this site will allow you to search by area code for *independent* coffee shops, bookstores and movie theatres… Yes, Virginia, there are alternatives to Starbucks…

Delocater

-Jenna

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How lucky we were to have Jessica Prentice, one of the original San Francisco “Locavores”, present “Deepening Our Sense of Seasonality” in Norwich, at King Arthur Flour on Tuesday night.

Jessica is a knowledgeable and articulate spokesperson for local and seasonal food and her presentation was relaxed, engaging and enjoyable. She uses the structure of 13 full moons throughout the year to talk about seasonal food through history and through different cultures and myths.

There was some interesting Q and A after her talk; I particularly appreciated her response to the question of “elitism” in regard to local and organic foods. Jessica said the issue was a big one, and she didn’t have all the answers but she did have observations and opinions: she observed that people have eaten local food through most of human history and our current dependence on globalized corporate food is just a “blink” in human history.

Many immigrants come to this country with a tradition of growing their own food and continue to do so in spite of low incomes. Many cities have community gardens where low-income people can grow food for themselves and their neighbors. The problem is not low income — it is a matter of culture and values. (If the culture promotes junk food, alcohol, cable tv, video games, and lots of commercial “stuff,” those things are likely to become the major values and where people spend their money — in our culture, farmers are demeaned and local food has not been given much value.)

I personally felt energized by Jessica’s presentation and know that Cindy Heath and Lou Anne McLeod are now percolating on the idea of community feasts a la 13 Moons!

–Pat

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