Locals commit to restrict diet to food grown within 100 miles
SEATTLE (AP) - A group of local residents have committed to eat only food grown within 100 miles of home for the month of August, which means they've given up coffee, bananas, pineapples and most processed foods from cereal to crackers.
The experiment is supposed to give people a taste of what it means to support local farmers and businesses, while eating food that is fresher, healthier and better tasting. They're also reducing the use of fossil fuels to ship the food and avoiding international food safety concerns.
"I'll agree to anything," said Scott Bilstad, whose wife, Dr. Melissa Larson, persuaded him to join the effort. "Then the first day comes, and I'm like, 'What am I going to eat for lunch?'."
The Green Lake neighborhood couple are sharing the experience with about 80 other local residents.
"It makes us think so much more about where we're getting everything," Larson said as she chopped cucumbers and onions from Pike Place Market for a recent dinner. The menu included a chicken grilled on the barbecue, apricots with cheese made from cows in Duvall, hazelnuts and a hulled wheat called farro or emmer. The vinaigrette for the salad was sweetened with honey instead of sugar. They sipped a white wine from Lopez Island Vineyards.
The Seattle project is modeled on an experiment by a Vancouver, B.C., couple who for a year ate food from no farther than 100 miles away. This spring they published the book "Plenty" about their experiences and started the Web site to support local eating.
Since then, about 10,000 people have pledged to do their own local-eating experiments, said James MacKinnon, who wrote "Plenty" with Alisa Smith. Washington ranks third for participation behind California and New York.
MacKinnon and Smith set 100 miles as an arbitrary boundary, a distance they said was far enough to get outside the city but still felt close to home.
The grass-roots non-profit Sustainable Ballard is coordinating the local effort. The group is hosting a kick-off event Sunday at the Ballard Farmers Market.
During the month, the group is holding a canning and preserving class and people are encouraged to meet for local-food potlucks. There's a Web site for sharing recipes and shops for hard-to-find ingredients such as nuts and grains. It also lists local restaurants that have pledged to serve 100-mile-diet menu items.
Every participant makes a personal commitment to the 100-mile-diet because the rules aren't hard and fast.
Larson, who's helping lead the experiment for Sustainable Ballard, is striving to eat locally at least 75 percent of the time. Her family is making allowances for salt, spices and - on occasion - bread from wheat flour. Others are going with 150 miles, which reaches farther into the state's agricultural lands, while some are doing a Washington-only diet.
"We want to make it really accessible," Larson said. The group chose August for the experiment as a time when a variety of produce is available, but the hope is that people continue eating locally as much as possible beyond August.
The experiment is supposed to give people a taste of what it means to support local farmers and businesses, while eating food that is fresher, healthier and better tasting. They're also reducing the use of fossil fuels to ship the food and avoiding international food safety concerns.
"I'll agree to anything," said Scott Bilstad, whose wife, Dr. Melissa Larson, persuaded him to join the effort. "Then the first day comes, and I'm like, 'What am I going to eat for lunch?'."
The Green Lake neighborhood couple are sharing the experience with about 80 other local residents.
"It makes us think so much more about where we're getting everything," Larson said as she chopped cucumbers and onions from Pike Place Market for a recent dinner. The menu included a chicken grilled on the barbecue, apricots with cheese made from cows in Duvall, hazelnuts and a hulled wheat called farro or emmer. The vinaigrette for the salad was sweetened with honey instead of sugar. They sipped a white wine from Lopez Island Vineyards.
The Seattle project is modeled on an experiment by a Vancouver, B.C., couple who for a year ate food from no farther than 100 miles away. This spring they published the book "Plenty" about their experiences and started the Web site to support local eating.
Since then, about 10,000 people have pledged to do their own local-eating experiments, said James MacKinnon, who wrote "Plenty" with Alisa Smith. Washington ranks third for participation behind California and New York.
MacKinnon and Smith set 100 miles as an arbitrary boundary, a distance they said was far enough to get outside the city but still felt close to home.
The grass-roots non-profit Sustainable Ballard is coordinating the local effort. The group is hosting a kick-off event Sunday at the Ballard Farmers Market.
During the month, the group is holding a canning and preserving class and people are encouraged to meet for local-food potlucks. There's a Web site for sharing recipes and shops for hard-to-find ingredients such as nuts and grains. It also lists local restaurants that have pledged to serve 100-mile-diet menu items.
Every participant makes a personal commitment to the 100-mile-diet because the rules aren't hard and fast.
Larson, who's helping lead the experiment for Sustainable Ballard, is striving to eat locally at least 75 percent of the time. Her family is making allowances for salt, spices and - on occasion - bread from wheat flour. Others are going with 150 miles, which reaches farther into the state's agricultural lands, while some are doing a Washington-only diet.
"We want to make it really accessible," Larson said. The group chose August for the experiment as a time when a variety of produce is available, but the hope is that people continue eating locally as much as possible beyond August.
