Going Local

(not loco!)

I don't know if it has been the increase in media attention or my own personal feelings or both but in the last year I have made more changes in where we get our food than in the previous 8 years I've lived here.

My first step was buying beef and pork locally. Last September I went to a fruit stand that had grass fed beef and fresh pork. Turns out the actual farm was just down the road. I called the number and voila! I soon had Kirk"the-meat-man" to buy from. I love how fresh it is and the prices are comparable to Winco meat! The beef is incredibly lean and justs tastes healthier. I have yet to find quality chicken at a price I love...still working on that one.

The next two steps have occurred in the last week. I just found fresh milk from a farm that is very close to my house. I have never been a milk drinker but I must say this milk is absolutely DELICIOUS. Paula, my new milk woman, talked about how it will stay good for 3 weeks and she has had customers tell her they have to work at souring the milk if they are trying to make buttermilk etc. It has all of the original enzymes and the cream- which I need to figure out how to skim and make butter or something (...baby steps..) Mira loves it too. She totes around a little bottle drinking it which is pretty adorable. Calvin isn't used to drinking milk so I offer him a small glass at every meal to warm him up to the idea. What can I say- I trained my kids to love water. As of right now we have a giant glass jar- looks like one of those deli pickle jars- filled with milk in the back of our fridge. Come on over and try a glass!

Finally, I joined a farm CSA (community supported agriculture) where we'll get fresh vegetables every week. I like the one I joined because they let you pick which vegetables you want instead of just making up a box for you. For those of you who have never heard of this- here is how it works. I pay a membership fee for the summer. I chose a small share which allots me 6 vegetables a week. A pound of carrots or bundle of chard will count as a vegetable. Their season lasts from June-October. It will even out to about $15 a week. We will still buy some fruit but as far as veggies this will be it. I was so excited to eat the radish and chard today. My kids loved the fresh carrots too. I think this will get our family to eat more veggies. I feel good about the quality of them too.

I'm experimenting with some other things like soaking my grains before I cook them. It is all a process. Some of these things I've been thinking about for a while but never had the know-how/guts/perceived funds to move forward.

One more thing: I forgot to add that I'm getting eggs from my sis-in-law's (hereby known as Lindsay) co-worker. They are fresh, they are free range and they are delicious. They vary in size (some are huge!) and color (white or brown) and are $3 a dozen. We go through a good 2 dozen a week. Egg-central!

If any of you are interested in my contacts I'd be happy to share them.

Happy vegging!