And so the journey begins... On Becoming a Vegetarian Locavore

So, what inspired me to become a locavore?

Over the past year I have been reading up on and then trying to do things that are better for the environment and for our health. Gillian Deacon's book "Green for Life" has pretty much become our bible for greening our lives - especially when it comes to cleaning.

The main challenge we ran into when it comes to cleaning was finding somewhere that consistently stocks and sells Borax - a product that Gillian Deacon talks about for using to clean bathrooms, floors and many other purposes too. In case you are in Ontario and are trying to find Borax, I would suggest visiting your local Metro grocery store and looking in the laundry aisle. That's where I was able to find it for us and it really works quite well as a product for cleaning the bathroom.

In addition to Gill Deacon's book, I recently read:

100 Mile Diet
by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
by Barbara Kingsolver

and am currently reading:

Locavore
by Sarah Elton

These books and also some fabulous former coworkers introduced me to the idea of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Farm Share. A Farm Share is where you have the opportunity to buy a share in a farm's bounty and/or risks. You pay a set fee to the farm and then receive a share of the farm's produce each week during the growing season. Each CSA is unique, as each farm grows different crops and will have different arrangement for receiving shares, length of season and the cost of the shares too. As I understand it, CSA farmers are generally dedicated to sustainable agriculture so that the land will have nutrients and/or value for generations to come.

I had thought for a long time that this sounded like a fabulous idea, but didn't realize that I pass 2 farms offering farm shares on my way to/from work each day. This weekend we made a decision and a commitment to support a local farm by purchasing a farm share and deciding to eat local produce for 23 weeks starting the first week of June. We recognize this is going to result in a huge shift in the way we think about food. Instead of going to the store and purchasing ingredients for the meal we plan to make, we will be making recipes based on the local produce we receive as part of our farm share. As we cook only vegetarian meals at home, we will be making only vegetarian meals. We will not be strictly following the 100 mile diet for all things, however we will be following it as best we can at least until November, which I understand is easiest to do over the summer and fall months, however, it is at the very least a start for us, and is far better than the produce we have eaten in previous summer and autumn months that has been shipped in from around the world.

If you would like to know more about CSA's and/or purchase a farm share in Ontario, Canada visit: http://csafarms.ca. This directory will help you to find out about local CSA's and from there you can research your options and make a decision.

I am hoping through this blog to document and share our experiences and recipes for eating local and am also hoping that if you are doing the same thing that you can share your experiences and recipes with us! For now... Bon Apetit!

Oh, and by the way...

A locavore is someone who eats food grown or produced locally or within a certain radius such as 50, 100, or 150 miles usually for ecological reasons. (From: http://www.urbandictionary.com)