If I had to use one word to describe my state of mind right now, it would be encouraged. I am so excited about the upcoming eat local challenge, and every time I check in, there seems to be more bloggers joining in on the fun. Today, I received notices from a blogger in Australia and a blogger in the UK that have announced they will be taking the challenge. Woo hoo - we've gone international!
As much as everyone talks about eating local being easier in California, I really was thinking that those in Southern California may have a tough time. I am spending a few days down here and have so far checked out a couple farmer's markets. I was so excited to find that it is possible to find food grown within a 100-mile radius fairly easily at the markets. Some of them - like Jaime Farms from the City of Industry - grow right in the middle of LA county.
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A note to San Francisco challenge participants: Some people have emailed asking me some specific questions about local food sources. I wrote some notes in a comment the other day, but will reiterate here with some additional thoughts.
Spices. Obviously, many spices don't come from local sources. There are a couple of choices with this. The first is to substitute a spice that you normally use for something that is locally grown. For instance, I plan on using some delicious dried pepper mixes for some spice substitutions - which can be found at Tierra Vegetables and Happy Quail Farms. But that won't get you too far if you have something specific you are looking for. Personally? I will try and substitute local herbs, and then use the eat local guidelines and go for terroir after local. With salt, I am going to work on using salt from smaller producers (ie., not Cargill) when possible. This will probably mean using more French / imported salts during this time, but the Cargill issue is a big one for me.
Flour. The most local source of wheat flour seems to be Full Belly Farms - they are at the Berkeley (Tuesday), Marin (Thursday) and Palo Alto (Saturday). They are a fantastic resource for this challenge, as the breadth of what they offer is amazing.
Rice. I have chosen to use rice from Lundberg Farms. Technically 125 miles, so it will be one of my exceptions -- but they make white and brown rice and are available at Whole Foods and Rainbow (bulk).
Things I am still trying to noodle out and would love advice on:
Oats. We eat steel cut oats in the morning, and I have found organic ones, but they are certainly not local. Is this going to have to be an exception that I claim?
Soy products. After looking into this, it seems that I am either going to have to cut these out, or settle for using an organic producer of soy products, even though the soy doesn't come from here. My main concern here is tofu.
Tortillas. Apart from making my own from local corn (not an option for me this month), I have not found a local option for corn tortillas. Anyone? Rancho Gordo's corn source is not local. I am not sure about Primavera.
Any products that you all are having trouble with?
