Saturday, August 4, 2007

Where are you from?

The average American meal has traveled 1500 miles by the time it reaches your table. Where are you from? Where do you buy food? How did you hear about our project? Please, leave a comment!

5 comments:

mk said...

I am in Duluth MN where the growing season is SHORT and I am gone too much to tend a garden! We have a great CSA but I am finding it hard to keep up with the bounty of food that has arrived lately. It is too much for a single person. I should pair up with a neighbor! I love the idea of eating local but it is hard to break old habits out of simple convenience. I guess that is just laziness. My biggest challenge is that I travel often which requires eating out. Though I often seek out the co-op in the city I end up in, I often have to eat out and find it hard to make socially responsible choices. Any suggestions on encouraging restaurants on buying local and then finding out who and where they are?

tiff said...

Willow, Alaska where I would have to say that most of our food comes from places further than 1500 miles...how sad. The closest grocery store is 60 miles away...along with the local farms.

WE are living vicariously through you guys...and strategizing how we could be better at eating locally. WE for sure could do it in the summer with a little tweaking & substiting...but we fear the winter months.

The daily menu is fantastic...and unique...love the foods that have become your main dish.

And well you know how we heard about your website! :)

Jodi said...

Hi, Jen and family. It's so fun to read your blog and see what you are chosing today.

I grew up in MO and have lived in WI for 15+ years. My family and I enjoy working and eating from our large garden. We also raise chickens (layers and meat), sheep, etc. The only problem I have is less expensive, local dairy (like my own cow, is really what I want).

I think the biggest challenge that people have is realizing that you can't have everything whenever you want it. For example, strawberries in Feb. You have to know that they are shipped, packaged the season before, treated and expensive! We are trying to eat our stuff (that's easy) and locally and stop eating out of season. I guess Alaska would be really tough but there is a reason people in the past ate what they did. It's what they had at that time. I think April is probably the biggest month in WI where you could starve esp. if you don't eat meat.

Good luck with your project!

Jodi Bubenzer and family

Anonymous said...

We think your one month eat locally program is a wonderful idea. Many more folks should get involved. However, I think the people who could benefit the most are the very ones who would never dream of eating this way. They are too hooked on fast foods and HFCS and you know how many foods that's in! Keep up the good eating and your blog is wonderfully written and very interesting to read.
A reader in Stow, MA.
August 8-suppertime here

Kathy said...

mk, I'm single, too, but I have a half-share CSA box -- I get a box every two weeks. It has worked perfectly for me, as I'm out of town a few times a month (and unable to use my produce) and am still able to share some with friends (often for potlucks -- or, as you might say in your neck of the woods, covered dish supper? :).

And greetings, Lynches, from just up the road -- the Schenk-Atwood neighborhood, to be exact. I'm awfully glad the WSJ wrote about your efforts; like you, I hope that it challenges folks to give more thought to their food sources.

This year was the first time I've done a CSA. JenEhr Farms has been a great experience! It's helped me to eat even more vegetables and to learn about the countryside around Madison, since I pick up my veg box at the farm northeast of Sun Prairie.

I look forward to checking back in later to see how the WSJ article affects your readership and such. A pleasure to "meet" you all!