Any Locavores here?

DiamondDeb · 10-05-2009, 10:23 PM

What I most want to do is be a locavore. Are you really 100% local? What is your cut off point for distance?

Some foods are doable, like chicken, beef, eggs and some produce. I haven't even heard of a place locally that I would be able to get dairy. Even the chicken/beef are quite a drive.

I buy as much as I can locally & it is already a challenge. It would be much easier if I had a yard & could grow a few things but I live in an apartment & don't even have a patio for a pot. What about produce that is never grown in your area? Do folks up north swear off citrus fruit? Do I give up apples?

Faia · 10-06-2009, 03:29 AM

One of the grass-fed beef farms delivers, for most of the other stuff we go to the farmer's market.

For the most part (farmer's market) stuff comes to us, although we lose the market until next spring after Thanksgiving. Depending on what the item is, 40 miles or so would not be too far if we could combine multiple purposes in one trip. We were prepared to drive 40 miles for Kerrygold butter and cheese until we found them locally (Kerrygold butter at the same store we get our non-homogenized VAT pasteurized milk for making kefir).

BikerAng · 10-06-2009, 10:48 AM

I try to buy as much as I can locally. Grass fed beef, free range chicken, pastured dairy (raw milk, cheeses), pastured eggs, veggies/fruit. Those are the main components of my diet. The produce is a challenge in the winter though, and I haven't been able to go 100% local. I still use stevia and xylitol, and use quinoa sometimes. Nuts are another non-local item I use, as well as avocados and lemons. I use local bee pollen. Next year I'm going to put a couple of raised beds out back and grow as much as I can (and dehydrate excess for winter use). I'd love to go 100% local (I'd go as far as 100 miles to consider it local) but just haven't been able to get there yet. I'm pretty close though, except in the winter months.

DiamondDeb · 10-06-2009, 02:12 PM

I guess being 100% is a nice goal but unrealistic for most of us.

Dairy is something I can't get from a local source. It would be wonderful to find a farm that makes butter & cream close by.

butters · 10-06-2009, 03:23 PM

Since our income has been reduced dramatically in the past few months, we're less locavores than we were before... I still do raw milk and eggs at the farmer's market (can't go back to the supermarket stuff!), and am looking into cheap soup bones from the folks we used to buy grassfed beef from to make bone broth. The rest of our meat is coming from local butchers at the moment, but it's not always pastured or locally sourced. We do make sure to buy ground beef that's ground while we wait. Veggies are from wherever is cheapest - fresh greens are cheaper at the farmer's market, but other things are not.

BikerAng · 10-06-2009, 03:23 PM

Dairy is kind of a pain. I live close to farms and can pick up raw milk (grass fed) from one farmer but nothing else. Another farm has grass fed pasteurized (not homogenized) cheese, butter, cream. It's all extremely expensive though, but it helps limit my intake.

MoreDown · 10-06-2009, 03:25 PM

I try to be a Locavore as much as I can.. I live pretty close to a farmers market, plus I grow alot of my own (organic) vegetables on my land. But, I do find it hard to eat 100% locally, especially with a family.

amidala64 · 10-06-2009, 08:16 PM

I'm fortunate that I live 4 hours away from the farmer who supplies my meat, dairy and some produces. I'm also really luck to live near some local farms! I really do try to eat local and organic but sometimes I just crave that orange bell pepper out of season!

I strive, I strive.

steady · 10-07-2009, 12:13 AM

I am trying, but I just moved to the desert...Las Vegas. There are farmers markets here, and most of the produce comes from California and Utah. I wish local, could be the farm just down the road, but that is unrealistic. However, attempting to eat local is also helping me learn about my new hometown.

Transplant · 10-07-2009, 04:53 AM

I think we come about as close as we can. Our dairy is from a farm about 1/2 mile from us and we get chickens, eggs, beef, pork and lamb from our immediate neighbors ...obviously, we live in the country

I have a large garden and a greenhouse, so I grow enough veggies to get us through the summer months (lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, beans, peas, tons of different berries) and satisfy a lot of our winter needs as well with root vegetables (potatoes, onions, leeks, beets, celery root, parsnip, etc) in addition to the things I can and/or freeze. I don't grow summer veggies in the winter, for example, tomatoes, lettuce, etc with the use of artificial lights). Electricity is just too expensive here.

We also have bunces of apple trees and a single cherry and pear. We plan on planting more fruit trees soon. I do have a lemon and lime "tree" (in pots), but they only produce a few very small fruits. Even with moving them into the greenhouse in the fall I don't see them producing enough to count.

The more I hear about what's being found in commercial foods, the more I think about avoiding anything from large scale production.

DiamondDeb · 10-11-2009, 11:32 AM

Planet Green has a TV program called The 100 Mile Challenge. Participants buy local only. It's supposed to be on this evening & I'm going to try to watch it. I'm curious about how they manage to actually do it.

DiamondDeb · 10-12-2009, 08:17 PM

I just watched The 100 Mile Challenge on Planet Green. I'm looking forward to this series.

A couple decided to eat local and then they wrote a book, The 100 Mile diet, about their experience. They then challenged the people of their town to eat only foods from within 100 miles for 100 days. They chose 6 families to follow. They went into those people's homes and packed up everything that was not local. Some people thought it would be easy. They soon found out how wrong they were.

Things like coffee, tea, salt, pepper, spices... Those I never thought about. I still would really love to try this sometime.

The show is on Planet Green on Mondays at 9:00pm EST.

There are a couple short videos from the show here.

terez · 10-15-2009, 09:28 PM

I can get eggs locally, okay 50 miles away. I noticed that the shells on the cage free eggs are thicker than regular store bought eggs. Everything else is 'organic'. And my butter comes from Ireland (Kerry Gold-I can't believe the difference; even refrigerated, it doesn't get hard like our national brands.)

Some friends of mine gave me a rooster that they had butchered two days before. They pastured it; had raised it from a chick in the hopes of raising hens for eggs. Well, there were too many roosters. They told me to cook it slowly because, being a rooster, its meat would be tougher.

Usually, I smoke meats, but because of all the rain we have been having, I couldn't. So I roasted it at 250 degrees for three hours. I noticed the dark meat was darker and it reminded me more goose meat than chicken. I haven't eaten any white meat yet, because I froze it (had other chicken and ham to eat first) but I'll be seeing how different it tastes. Before this, all the 'organic' chicken I had was from Trader Joe's. I'm not complaining, it's wonderful, but yeah, I'd love to try more local when my budget allows.

I used to raise tomatoes and give a lot to local food pantries (organic) but with recent health problems, I haven't been able to.

Suncharm · 10-27-2009, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiamondDeb

I just watched The 100 Mile Challenge on Planet Green. I'm looking forward to this series.

A couple decided to eat local and then they wrote a book, The 100 Mile diet, about their experience. They then challenged the people of their town to eat only foods from within 100 miles for 100 days. They chose 6 families to follow. They went into those people's homes and packed up everything that was not local. Some people thought it would be easy. They soon found out how wrong they were.

Things like coffee, tea, salt, pepper, spices... Those I never thought about. I still would really love to try this sometime.

The show is on Planet Green on Mondays at 9:00pm EST.

There are a couple short videos from the show here.

I'm really enjoying this show Deb, their blog/website has some great resources for buying local here in FL. My problem with the 100 miles is that I'm 1 mile from the Gulf so 99 of my miles would be wasted on water

because most seafood makes me itch

I've started going to a local farmers market near my house on Thursdays and while I can't participate in a local CSA, they also hold a farmers market on Sundays in Tampa that I'm looking forward to attending.

Now that it might start to cool down a bit I'm going to plant a patio garden with tomatoes and a few other things, I'm thinking of doing a raised garden in the back yard but fencing it to keep the creatures out

I know I couldn't give up coffee...I wonder if I could grow my own

sfmama123 · 10-27-2009, 02:43 PM

Yes, I'm a locavore-I eat crazy things all the time! Sorry, I couldn't resist...

KathyMA · 11-11-2009, 07:41 PM

I try to eat locally as much as possible, but living in a cold climate makes it difficult for produce. It's easy to get local meat and eggs.

10-05-2009, 10:23 PM	#1
DiamondDeb Fat Burning Machine Extraordinaire! Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 53,809 Gallery: DiamondDeb	Any Locavores here? What I most want to do is be a locavore. Are you really 100% local? What is your cut off point for distance? Some foods are doable, like chicken, beef, eggs and some produce. I haven't even heard of a place locally that I would be able to get dairy. Even the chicken/beef are quite a drive. I buy as much as I can locally & it is already a challenge. It would be much easier if I had a yard & could grow a few things but I live in an apartment & don't even have a patio for a pot. What about produce that is never grown in your area? Do folks up north swear off citrus fruit? Do I give up apples? __________________ Organic food isn't a luxury. It's how food's supposed to be, and a valuable part of any regimen intended to maintain, improve, or restore health. ~ Shane Heaton, Organic Food News Quarterly

10-06-2009, 10:48 AM	#3
BikerAng MAJOR LCF POSTER! Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Duvall, WA Posts: 1,834 Gallery: BikerAng Stats: 195/167/155 5'9" WOE: Atkins - organic & humanely raised Start Date: Feb 2007	I try to buy as much as I can locally. Grass fed beef, free range chicken, pastured dairy (raw milk, cheeses), pastured eggs, veggies/fruit. Those are the main components of my diet. The produce is a challenge in the winter though, and I haven't been able to go 100% local. I still use stevia and xylitol, and use quinoa sometimes. Nuts are another non-local item I use, as well as avocados and lemons. I use local bee pollen. Next year I'm going to put a couple of raised beds out back and grow as much as I can (and dehydrate excess for winter use). I'd love to go 100% local (I'd go as far as 100 miles to consider it local) but just haven't been able to get there yet. I'm pretty close though, except in the winter months. Last edited by BikerAng; 10-06-2009 at 10:50 AM..

10-12-2009, 08:17 PM	#12
DiamondDeb Fat Burning Machine Extraordinaire! Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 53,809 Gallery: DiamondDeb	I just watched The 100 Mile Challenge on Planet Green. I'm looking forward to this series. A couple decided to eat local and then they wrote a book, The 100 Mile diet, about their experience. They then challenged the people of their town to eat only foods from within 100 miles for 100 days. They chose 6 families to follow. They went into those people's homes and packed up everything that was not local. Some people thought it would be easy. They soon found out how wrong they were. Things like coffee, tea, salt, pepper, spices... Those I never thought about. I still would really love to try this sometime. The show is on Planet Green on Mondays at 9:00pm EST. There are a couple short videos from the show here. Last edited by DiamondDeb; 10-12-2009 at 08:18 PM..

10-15-2009, 09:28 PM	#13
terez Senior LCF Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: St. Louis, Missouri Posts: 272 Gallery: terez Stats: Minus 60 pounds and counting WOE: OWL	I can get eggs locally, okay 50 miles away. I noticed that the shells on the cage free eggs are thicker than regular store bought eggs. Everything else is 'organic'. And my butter comes from Ireland (Kerry Gold-I can't believe the difference; even refrigerated, it doesn't get hard like our national brands.) Some friends of mine gave me a rooster that they had butchered two days before. They pastured it; had raised it from a chick in the hopes of raising hens for eggs. Well, there were too many roosters. They told me to cook it slowly because, being a rooster, its meat would be tougher. Usually, I smoke meats, but because of all the rain we have been having, I couldn't. So I roasted it at 250 degrees for three hours. I noticed the dark meat was darker and it reminded me more goose meat than chicken. I haven't eaten any white meat yet, because I froze it (had other chicken and ham to eat first) but I'll be seeing how different it tastes. Before this, all the 'organic' chicken I had was from Trader Joe's. I'm not complaining, it's wonderful, but yeah, I'd love to try more local when my budget allows. I used to raise tomatoes and give a lot to local food pantries (organic) but with recent health problems, I haven't been able to. __________________ The world is so full of a number of things That we should all be as happy as kings -Robert Louis Stevenson

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10-06-2009, 03:29 AM	#2
Faia Senior LCF Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Paragon City Posts: 218 Gallery: Faia WOE: LC/Avoid Frankenfoods Start Date: March 2009	One of the grass-fed beef farms delivers, for most of the other stuff we go to the farmer's market. For the most part (farmer's market) stuff comes to us, although we lose the market until next spring after Thanksgiving. Depending on what the item is, 40 miles or so would not be too far if we could combine multiple purposes in one trip. We were prepared to drive 40 miles for Kerrygold butter and cheese until we found them locally (Kerrygold butter at the same store we get our non-homogenized VAT pasteurized milk for making kefir).

10-06-2009, 02:12 PM	#4
DiamondDeb Fat Burning Machine Extraordinaire! Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 53,809 Gallery: DiamondDeb	I guess being 100% is a nice goal but unrealistic for most of us. Dairy is something I can't get from a local source. It would be wonderful to find a farm that makes butter & cream close by.

10-06-2009, 03:23 PM	#5
butters Senior LCF Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Philly Posts: 158 Gallery: butters Start Date: 02/03/09	Since our income has been reduced dramatically in the past few months, we're less locavores than we were before... I still do raw milk and eggs at the farmer's market (can't go back to the supermarket stuff!), and am looking into cheap soup bones from the folks we used to buy grassfed beef from to make bone broth. The rest of our meat is coming from local butchers at the moment, but it's not always pastured or locally sourced. We do make sure to buy ground beef that's ground while we wait. Veggies are from wherever is cheapest - fresh greens are cheaper at the farmer's market, but other things are not.

10-06-2009, 03:25 PM	#7
MoreDown Junior LCF Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 12 Gallery: MoreDown	I try to be a Locavore as much as I can.. I live pretty close to a farmers market, plus I grow alot of my own (organic) vegetables on my land. But, I do find it hard to eat 100% locally, especially with a family.

10-06-2009, 08:16 PM	#8
amidala64 Junior LCF Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Clifton, NJ Posts: 46 Gallery: amidala64 Stats: 420/270/137 WOE: RNY '06/Weston A. Price Start Date: January 2009	I'm fortunate that I live 4 hours away from the farmer who supplies my meat, dairy and some produces. I'm also really luck to live near some local farms! I really do try to eat local and organic but sometimes I just crave that orange bell pepper out of season! I strive, I strive.

10-07-2009, 12:13 AM	#9
steady MAJOR LCF POSTER! Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Las Vegas via NYC Posts: 1,568 Gallery: steady Stats: 110/90 5'2 WOE: ATKINS Start Date: Feb 2007	I am trying, but I just moved to the desert...Las Vegas. There are farmers markets here, and most of the produce comes from California and Utah. I wish local, could be the farm just down the road, but that is unrealistic. However, attempting to eat local is also helping me learn about my new hometown.

10-07-2009, 04:53 AM	#10
Transplant MAJOR LCF POSTER! Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Denmark Posts: 1,158 Gallery: Transplant	I think we come about as close as we can. Our dairy is from a farm about 1/2 mile from us and we get chickens, eggs, beef, pork and lamb from our immediate neighbors ...obviously, we live in the country I have a large garden and a greenhouse, so I grow enough veggies to get us through the summer months (lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, beans, peas, tons of different berries) and satisfy a lot of our winter needs as well with root vegetables (potatoes, onions, leeks, beets, celery root, parsnip, etc) in addition to the things I can and/or freeze. I don't grow summer veggies in the winter, for example, tomatoes, lettuce, etc with the use of artificial lights). Electricity is just too expensive here. We also have bunces of apple trees and a single cherry and pear. We plan on planting more fruit trees soon. I do have a lemon and lime "tree" (in pots), but they only produce a few very small fruits. Even with moving them into the greenhouse in the fall I don't see them producing enough to count. The more I hear about what's being found in commercial foods, the more I think about avoiding anything from large scale production.

10-11-2009, 11:32 AM	#11
DiamondDeb Fat Burning Machine Extraordinaire! Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 53,809 Gallery: DiamondDeb	Planet Green has a TV program called The 100 Mile Challenge. Participants buy local only. It's supposed to be on this evening & I'm going to try to watch it. I'm curious about how they manage to actually do it.

10-27-2009, 02:43 PM	#15
sfmama123 Senior LCF Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: SF Bay Area Posts: 161 Gallery: sfmama123 Stats: 356/226/175 WOE: Atkins '72 Start Date: This time: Jan 7, 2008	Yes, I'm a locavore-I eat crazy things all the time! Sorry, I couldn't resist...

11-11-2009, 07:41 PM	#16
KathyMA Junior LCF Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Boston Posts: 3 Gallery: KathyMA Stats: 173/173/140 WOE: Localvore/Organic Low Carb Start Date: On and off for years	I try to eat locally as much as possible, but living in a cold climate makes it difficult for produce. It's easy to get local meat and eggs.