Eat Local Challenge endpost

Here is the haul I got at the farmer's market today. Well some of it, anyway. The tomatoes are mine from the garden and there were more eggs and strawberries plus some plums that never made it home and potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.

After I got started on this challenge, I felt a little weird about it. Almost false. I live in Southern California in a very agricultural part of Southern California. Lots of the produce much of the country gets in their stores comes from right here. Several of the recent fresh produce recalls are from right near here. (Hi onions! Spinach!) It seems unfair almost to pat myself on the back about eating locally when it is so much easier here then lots of other places. Do I want lemons? Figs? Just pick them from trees I personally have access to. Fresh eggs and chickens and turkey and cheese? Easy peasy. Even bananas, which are a very difficult item to find locally are available here, although they are a little difficult to come by. You have to know someone. (They don't call this a banana belt for nothing)

Right now in my garden, although the tomatoes came up and went into composting this weekend, I still have cucumbers and beans. The strawberries and artichokes are renewing, my herbs are beautiful and the kale is coming in strong. My Dwarf Meyer Lemon tree looks terrible. So sad. I think it isn't going to make it. I will attempt a blackberry when bare root plants come out in a few months.

It feels almost like another way to play "I'm more organic than you." And yet the ideals are sound. So much less petroleum used. So much better tasting food. Recognizing seasons as best you can, especially here in SoCal. Not eating apples shipped here from New Zealand(!) I was really surprised to see that actually. It never occurred to me they came from so far. I figured they were just storage apples. So apples are on hold until they start coming in from local farms. We have a few mealy gala apples right now, but they aren't great. Actually, they aren't even good.

So I did the best I could. I avoided the really heinous things like New Zealand apples and bananas from nations unknown. I tried to stay local as best I could, then California, then west coast. But still I know I wasn't even at 75% local for the month. I bought packaged foods (Hi TJ's!) and I made an effort to get to know the local producers for things and tried to make the local choice where available. But perfection wasn't even remotely attainable. I have neither the budget nor the time to go fully local. Not now anyway. But it is getting easier. And the farmer's market is my friend.