I'm much more concerned with eating local vs. eating "organic" or "naturally grown" since those terms have been so diluted of late. This means the food arrives at my table with minimal transportation and relatively quickly after harvest making it fresher and more nutritious. Most of our local vendors utilize sustainable agricultural practices that represent the original intent behind the terms organic and locally grown and that makes me happy too. It doesn't mean I'll never eat a banana or use flour or spices and things but it does meant that I choose local when that's an option and I try to do the bulk of my cooking with local foods. Last night's dinner was probably one of the most "local" meals we've ever eaten. Everything except the salt and pepper came from the farmers market and I could really taste the differences.
Eating Local
August 1, 2009










August 2, 2009 at 8:41 pm
I agree with what you’ve said here. Our CSA isn’t certified organic, but they use extremely natural/organic-type practices. The organic certification is, I’m told, both gimmicky and expensive, so it’s not worth it to most local small farms to bother with the label.
Plus, it restricts them on the off chance that it is necessary to take some non-organic step to resolve a critical situation.
I wish that banana farming was more responsible because they are such a wonderful fruit… I’ve heard so many awful stories about how they are grown and how it destroys the land… but I still eat them. I just try not to focus on the bad things I’ve heard and take heart in all the positive steps we’ve taken to be more local, more natural and more responsible.
August 3, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Fresh is so much better. We are trying to get another pig so we can feed it out. And we are going to get chickens again, nothing beats fresh eggs,home grown veggies and home raised-corn feed pork.
August 3, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Ive been wishing for chickens and recently had a book from the library on raising them. We cant have them where we are but its in the back of my mind as an eventual goal. For the moment I get eggs from the local farm that seem fairly fresh but Id definitely prefer same day harvest.
August 4, 2009 at 7:10 am
We never did manage to get into a CSA but we love the farmers market so much that weve stopped trying. I think Ive got him firmly on board with the veggie garden now since he was suggesting additional beds this weekend.
Its a shame whats happened to the organic label but I suppose its no surprise that when something becomes profitable the big companies want to bend it to their own means. Im just glad there are choices that let me avoid the supermarket as much as possible.