Locavore, That’s Right I’m Out!
I am my own Bob Barker in these contests, and I don’t want to win a prize from myself. Friday was approaching fast and I knew I had to knock out a few more players before the end of the game. The prizes will be better if fewer people win, supply and demand. (If you knock people out today and you are the only winner, your prize will be awesome – motivation?!)
Fresh, the movie, happened before the hummus, I love spices. I told myself, I will wait until after the movie and see what direction it motivates me. Well, they had some amazing looking meals at those farms. My mind started racing for Locavore Round 2 where those meals would be totally legal. Of course spices have their fare share of issues so, now it is time to research the sustainable suppliers.
I also walked away inspired to buy my Main Market Co-op membership. I have it budgeted for next month when I originally planned to buy one but I am now more motivated and excited about it.
At the Fresh swap, I still was not sure if I would go out. So I traded for Rachel’s carrots, which we all ended up eating like popcorn at the movie, and Crystal let me have some of her oil. I will honor that with an awesome vegan meal made with the oil.
I learned more from this contest than in contests in the past. It definitely had more meaning behind it. I am quite a literal person, and I am happy to know more people would be willing to find out what “local” in Spokane, WA means in the literal sense.
I am very excited to start putting that “Annual Manual” of locavore places together. It will be web-based while the directory is complied. If you want to help or have suggestions please, feel free. Even at the movie Fresh, people were asking about local vendors. I don’t know why I just assumed the rest of the audience would know more than me about the local producers and supporters in our region.
Remember you 5 remaining, if you knock then out to one sole winner there will be an awesome prize, if there is more than one winner there will still be a prize it just won’t be nearly as good.
Locavore Day 4
I’m out!
Fresh (the movie) was my inspiration. More on that later.
Remi and Andrew are also out.
Locavore Day 3 update
What I ate: left over peach experiment, apple, corn on the cob, Afghan salad with peach, ginseng in hot water with peach juice, squash, purple potato.
I also had some peach juiceI mixed with water, then frozen and poured Dry Fly Vodka on top. Peach Icy.
I am no artist but this is what I wanted last night.
Secret Weapon and Locavore Day 2
Secret Weapon this time is Ginseng. It is supposed to give you energy and help moodiness. Sometimes I have to work at night. Well, last night I fell asleep way too early and didn’t wake up to work until 1AM. Now, my energy levels are totally off.
The plan, boil the ginseng root (From Greenbluff) in my leftover peach juice (read more below) and add some mint (from my garden). I think that will be the Wednesday cure.
Day 2 Update:
Lentz oats boiled in water with honey,
Baked squash from the garden nothing added, the flavor was amazing on its own,
Baked purple potato,
Small portion of steak, I am getting sick of it
Awesome green salsa for everything
Apples and plums as snacks
Then I experimented with Lentz flour, grains, egg, milk, honey and peaches. I found if you boil the peach slices in water for about 10 minutes it makes a great juice.
The experiment was alright, not that great, but not that bad either. The flavor of that flour is wonderful.
Locavore Day 1 and food sources
Day 1 order of food: peach, rolled oats (honey, milk), strawberry smoothie (milk, strawberries, honey), purple potato and garlic, corn on the cob (apple cider, garlic, onion sauce), roasted squash wedges, baked potato, steak (tomato, onion, milk sauce)
Yes, I ate parts of all of that. I did not plan well at all, quite like Monique was saying. So, the peach for breakfast and nothing more with me, I had to run home at lunch and think fast. Then snacks of vegetables between meals until Remi bought steak and shared it with me. I also tried to put milk in a blender hoping I could whip it enough to make butter. Guess what happens to the blender, it gets to hot and shuts off and basically boils the milk from the heat.
Unlike Andrew, my struggle is prepping food and the time it takes to cook it. I don’t have a problem with caffeine. It is a great addiction to get over.
Here is where my food came from. Like many wondering about the miles driven to get food, had more research been done ahead of time, I am guessing I never would have had to leave a 5 mile radius of my house to get food from the 100 mile radius. I now have more knowledge about the sources and markets.
Food from the garden:
Lettuce
Spinach
Beets
Snap Peas
Cilantro
Tomatoes
Peppers
Squash
Mint
Basil
Chives
Food from friends/neighbors:
tomatoes
cucumber
eggs
dill
Applesauce (Harvest House Greenbluff Apples, nothing added)
Food from Fresh Abundance:
Milk
Spelt flour, oats, and grains
Food from Market behind Maxwell House Bar (Ash & Maxwell):
Apples
Plums
Food From 11 Acres on Greenbluff:
Tomatoes
Ginseng ($0.60)
Pearl onions
Food From Walter’s on Greenbluff:
Apple Cider
Hazelnuts
Jalapenos
Green Peppers
Other peppers
Corn
Apples
Food From Deer Park Farmers Market:
Garlic
Onions
Purple potatoes
honey – the lowest price in town
Peaches
Green Beans
Corn
Locavore, Energy + Food
I think everyone found out buying as local as possible means driving more than usual. It reminds me of the old debate about recycling plants and if that is using more energy to recycle than to just put in the trash.
Twitter Conversation started by @onemoreryan:
@remio @unknownneva @andrewzahler Anyone calculating energy cost of driving around for 100 mi ingredients vs. walk for non-local at grocery?
Here are some factors that should be mentioned about energy. But, outside energy, is it better to directly support the farmer who is in your community than the large farms across the USA and other countries? Sure, many miles were driven, far more than what is needed to get non-local foods but there is energy in the transportation of all foods. The boxes needed to haul, the plastic bags at supermarkets, the huge trucks, the 24 hour truck stops for drivers, the middle loading docks to transfer items to the trucks going directly to the stores, etc.
After the adventure in buying local food, I know I am willing to pay more for the 100 mile radius food to be hauled to a central location such as the Main Market Coop or Fresh Abundance. Spending 4 hours to pick out food is fun once in awhile, but I do like the convenience of going to a store. If more local stores would carry more 100 mile radius items, I am sure the energy costs would drop.
| Local Food | Local Store non Local Food | ||
| gas for carpool | plastic bags, packaging, boxes | ||
| gas for farmers to get to market, if any | gas for large trucks hauling | ||
| energy for docking stations between routes, think Food services of America | |||
Why a Locavore Contest?
My Motivations:
1. 7vs7 needed a new contest.
Remi started the first 7vs7 last year based on a contest he read about. Bob Barker was once my hero. I love contests and like to challenge myself. I am not competitive. I like to participate and I like others to participate with me, hence my party planning leading to a marathon for my friend’s bachelorette party. I grew up having to prepare meals for the family once a week starting at 10 years old. I also grew up with a bicyclist father who organized rides under the slogan “we are not responsible” and that is how I like to deal with my contests too.
2. To pursue avenues of knowledge that had not previously occurred to me.
I was a vegetarian for 17 years. In first grade, I found out the meat on my plate could have come from the farm I visited earlier that day, I lost all interest in where meat/seafood products came from and never ate it again. I ate a piece of meat about 1.5 years ago and wanted to know where the meat on my plate came from.
3. A bottomless curiosity about nearly all things finite and infinite.
My curiosity about where food comes from and the relation to my environment grew even more once I had that bite of meat. The media in all formats helped fuel my curiosity about where food comes from, especially the Meatless Monday’s Movement and vegans going locavore on those days.
4. A fascination for the way people live and learning by experiencing.
(Some of you have heard this) I went to Bamyian, AF in May a few years ago. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The town is so high up in the mountains that there was still snow on the ground. Kids would babysit each other while the parents would pack cow pies to dry and burn for fuel in their mud brick houses. There was very little to eat in the town, potatoes, eggs, onions, that was it. They were coming out of the winter season. At the time i was vegetarian but rich people could also eat chicken, and lamb meat but even that was rare. So, I guess in another way of looking at the 100 mile challenge, it is a lifestyle many are forced to live across the globe. What the challenge can really show, which many forget about, is that local products could not be what they are today without a global influence. Support local but never forget this is a global market and we do all work together.
5. The “S” Word.
The use of the word sustainable has exploded in recent years. Many think of this word in relation to the environment. However it can be used in many ways as long as the message conveys what is it that someone wants to sustain. So from the strict view, what would it take to only consume pure local products.
… & there you have it, a brief explanation of my motivations behind 7vs7 Locavore: The 100 Mile Challenge Round 1. Round 2 certainly has more to add especially when talking about the “s” word.
The outcome? I would like to create a locavore style “Annual Manual” of all the local vendors, restaurants, products, farms, etc. in our 100 mile radius to help others and myself learn more about what’s going on with our food and where we can buy it. Please send suggestions etc. for this free for everyone to access directory.
Here We Go Again! 7vs7
7vs7 Locavore. Visit Spokane Food Blog for details (I am not in the mood to link sites).
So far, I have to admit, I am a bit intimidated by these new players (Moneeeq, Hank, Stephanie, Brightspirit, Crystal, John Speare, and Rachel). They are researching and preparing way more than I have. Brandi doesn’t scare me yet, she has not updated enough. The old players are no worry, of them only Andrew has won a contest and I am not sure his head is in it for a win.
My plan? Get with the program and start meal planning a buying products.
The Roster of Players:
1. Becky from I Put the Me in Awesome
2. Mark from Route 140 and Rhymes with Almonds
3. Unknown Neva from SFB and Finally a Blog
4. Moneeeeq from Home Economics 2.0
5. Andrew from Editor, Revised and Burger, Revised
6. Hank from Shallow Cogitations
7. BrightSpirit from Fresh Abundance *which blog will you post to?
8. Paul from DTE
9. Remi from SFB and RemiAndre
10. Bart from DTE
11. Crystal from SpoVegan
12. Stephanie from Peanut butter and Stephanie
13. John Speare from Cycling Spokane
14. Rachel from One Facet of the Human Experience
15. Brandi from Twitter *which blog will you post to?
Good luck everyone.
More to come later about why this contest was started and my personal motivations.
7/7 Day 3 & 4
Day 3 Afternoon: Black bean soup with hard-boiled egg white and apple with peanut butter.
Day 3 Night: Ben and Jerry’s milk shake, gorgonzola fries, a few sips of beer, about 4 glasses of water.
Day 4 Morning: 20 oz latte from Victoria’s
Yes, that is right I am out. How did it come to this? Well, yesterday I sent my passport to get a visa. The visa should be back in 3 business days. As soon as I get my visa back I will be flying back to Afghanistan. SO? My diet in Afghanistan will not be too much different from this food competition diet. That means I want to eat some dairy and cook with olive oil before I go. I will not be gone too long but long enough to miss cooking my own foods.
A trip to Costco to get some fruit to juice really put me over the edge. Why am I restricting myself now when I will be restricted next week? Then the phone calls started. I left Becky a desperate voicemail, eagerly waiting for her work break. Thank goodness I have an iPhone and could just send her emails and text messages too. I still was not convinced I should drop out of the competition, but Remi was definitely failing as he was about to breakout into tears wanting to eat pizza. A few text messages were sent to Andrew, Mark, and Ryan. Two of which thought I was joking about Remi going out and one who encourage it. I am sure you can guess who was encouraging.
Meanwhile, I put two calls into Tara, my Philly Librarian and messenger for the Kingdom of Vegetarians winner. The first asking her to order a pizza to my house because I just could not bring myself to do it. The second another plea to get me out of this contest. Still, she wasn’t going to help and, I wasn’t going to leave my house. Until, her and Matty mentioned a Ben and Jerry’s milkshake! Keeping up with my marathon training I ran to Ben and Jerry’s along with Remi who had long decided he was going out. Becky calls saying she is on her work break. I asked her to meet at the ice cream shop. The three of us drank milkshakes and loved it. Until, Becky and I felt sick.
Anyone left in the contest, do not go out. It will make you sick. Right now I am still buzzing from a 20 oz latte. I rarely drink coffee, but when I do it is no more than an 8 oz beverage, so 20 oz will, that is just mind blowing. I will, in the future stick to a more non-processed foods diet. But, I do want to add a little processed now and again.
Mark S., Mark G., I am rooting for you. Andrew, I don’t think it is possible for Remi to knock you out. Jordy and Paul, if you are out there update, otherwise I am saying you went out before me.
I am already thinking of the next contest. This time I will try to make sure Afghanistan isn’t around the corner. How about aiming for sometime near Bloomsday the end of April or mid May? Anyone is welcome and I think the addition of Hank and Jacque will be a challenge to Andrew. He needs some strong competitors.
Check out the other blogs to get the whole story of 7/7 Challenge #2.
- Burger, Revised, represented by Andrew.
- Down to Earth, represented by Bart and Paul.
- I put the me in awesome, represented by Becky.
- Librarian Lateralus, represented by Mark G.
- Rhymes with Almonds, represented by Mark S.
- Spokane Food Blog, represented by Jordy, Remi, and Unknown Neva.
- The Spovangelist, represented by Mariah.
