Some preamble...

Often, we read books or watch movies or see theatre that inspire us... ignite an idea or thought that make us want to change in some way for the better. All too often, I have had these moments of inspiration that have lasted anywhere between 30 seconds to a few weeks. But sure enough, life gets busy and that thing I promised myself I'd do fades into the background until it's often forgotten. This is my attempt to change that. And although writing a "blog" seems almost cliche to me, it seems like a good way to be accountable for what I'm attempting to achieve, which is to have 80% of my diet be food that is grown locally in Ontario. For one year!

This new journey started last fall when I read "100 Mile Diet", a Canadian bestseller about a couple in Vancouver who decided to eat locally grown food within a 100 mile radius of their home for a year. All ingredients had to be from within this 100 miles... so no chocolate, no coffee, no sugar, no bananas, no pineapples...all those spices that we take for granted in our everyday food... nope! The only exception they made was salt. (And when they got invited over to friends homes for dinner, they would eat what was served, and when they were away and had to eat out, that was okay too). But the idea was to eat local food, as best they could, for 365 days. The reason behind doing this is fairly straightforward... the average meal on our plates in any given day travels 2400 kilometres. Ingredients in that plate of food can potentially come from 5 countries other than your own!

Although there is a tendacy to label people like myself a hippie or a tree hugger or even an environmentalist, where our food comes from has become an emerging issue over the past year, and Canadians are jumping on board. Do you know where your chicken comes from when you buy it in the grocery store? Do you know the practices of the farm that produced it? Does it cross your mind that the avacado you just purchased was grown in a country thousands of miles from Canada and shipped by trucks burning huge amounts of fossil fuel just to get that avacado into the supermarket? Hmmm... this blog is going to be difficult... because already I can feel myself being preachy, and that is not my intention. Both of my parents were church ministers earlier in their career, and have uttered their fair share of sermons (most of which I was doing something other than listening in the back row of the pews), yet had an ability throughout not to sound preachy.... to engage their congregation without pointing fingers. This is my goal... to engage you in conversation without seeming like a "know-it-all"! You can let me know how I do!

So two weeks ago, I went to my first farmer's market in Peterborough, and had no clue what I was doing! I brought home about 30 potatoes, most of which are still growing roots on my floor right now. (Most of you who know me well will not be surprised by this!) I came home with onions, garlic, chicken, tomatoes, carrots, cauliflower, bell peppers... wait a second... it took me a short time to realize that bell peppers were likely not grown in Canada in May, let alone Ontario! What was going on here? I found a contact name for the Peterborough Farmer's market, and gave the woman in charge a ring. I suppose you could argue that I should have just asked where the food was coming from, but it was a farmer's market, and I assumed that the veggies were coming from their farm. Well, it turns out that food sold at the market is supposed to come from their farms, but this matter is hard to police, and therefore it is up to the consumer to know better! Lesson one learned... even at a farmer's market, you need to ask that farmer directly if they grew that food before you fork over the dough!