The May Local Challenge

A few weeks ago, my husband Dan and I were driving down Harford Road discussing buying our food through local channels. It led to the idea of challenging ourselves for one full month to buy nothing but locally (or regionally) produced food. We would set a budget and see how well we could stick to it.

I’ve always felt it was important to “support the little guy”, but this is more than that. It is about eating healthy, reducing our carbon footprint and most importantly doing our small part to help boost the local economy.

I mentioned it to Aaron one day and he too wanted to join in the cause. And thanks to his twitter, now several other local designers are on board for the challenge. We have set our own rules. Feel free to follow our lead, or create your own parameters. If you are interested here is the deal:

1) BUY FOOD FROM LOCAL RESOURCES: We’ll source our food from the local farmer’s markets first and foremost, checkout http://www.slowfoodbaltimore.org/ for a list of resources and CSA programs. Example: This means I can’t run to Safeway at 9 p.m. if I realize I’m out of milk. I’ll have to wait until the next day and make it over to Belvedere Square instead because the sell regional produced dairy products. Good thing: I’m in luck in the coffee department–we already buy from Zeke’s or Bluebird. Not so local thing: And not to be wasteful–if it’s already in my cabinet–I’m going to eat it or use the ingredients needed like flour, sugar etc.

2) SUPPORT LOCAL RESTAURANTS: We’ll skip the chain restaurants, not that they can’t be owned by a local franchisee, but because they participate in high volume means of transportation to get the food from point A to our plates. We’ll be helping stimulate local restaurants and supporting those that highlight locally produced foods. Example: This means I can’t get lazy and do a drive-thru. Good thing: I’ll get to try new places. Not so local thing: Travel. I’m headed to a birthday celebration for my Dad and it’s his choice of restaurant. So I am out of luck in this department, but I can check out the menu and try to find the best alternative or ask the server if they know where the “beef came from”.

3) SUPPORT LOCAL RETAILERS: We’re not going to the extremes and sourcing everything from local producers–more power to you if you can. But in any instance that I “need” something or “run-out” of something else, I will source my local stores first. Example: Need light bulbs? I’m seeking out my local hardware store first over The Home Depot. Good thing: I’ll probably get lazy at thinking about where to go and do without–determining what I really need over what I think I need. Not so local thing: Gasoline purchases. But Carroll Fuel has several stations in town so if I’m near one, I’ll go there first.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and thinking about your own purchasing habits. We’ll be posting updates throughout the month of tips and any stories that come up along the way. Feel free to email us if you too will be participating. We’d love to hear the feedback and experiences.

ande
www.orange-element.com

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 at 6:14 pm. It is filed under Blog Posts and tagged with Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.