I've signed up for this spring's Penny-Wise Eat Local Challenge, a plan to see how easy or hard it really is to eat locally while on a budget. It's being organized by Jen Maiser, editor of eatlocalchallenge.com. This particular challenge will take place over the fourth week of April.
My answers for the set-up questions:
1. What's your definition of local for this challenge?
I will be using the 100-mile radius.
2. What exemptions will you claim?
Coffee, spices, soy sauce, possibly soymilk. Maybe also a grain product, but I'll try to stick to locally processed grains if I can't get locally grown ones. Also my jams from last year, which are made from fruit local either to Philadelphia or to my parents' house. (Dairy, fruit, veggies, tofu, eggs, meat, bread, wheat pasta, honey, and as much else as possible will at least be made locally, even if the soybeans for the tofu and the grain for the bread and pasta are not local.)
3. Will you be making any changes to our budget goals?
My general budget goal for food is about $45/wk, so I'll stick with the 1-person recommendation (average weekly food budget) of $68. I may include some (local) alcohol, but it'll be within the food budget constraints.
4. Do you have any additional personal goals for the week?
Well, if I'm going to be eating local food, it's going to have to be stuff cooked by me. So the accompanying goal is going to be packing my lunch every day.
I'd love to do something like this... but I don't even know where to start! I live in suburban Chicagoland, and I wouldn't even know where to go to buy more local products, or how to tell if something was locally grown or not (I'm assuming at this time of year not much has been grown locally around here!)
Good luck!
Posted by: Jen | 23 March 2007 at 16:35
Hi Jen! I'm thinking about gearing up for the September Eat Local Challenge. I'll use the summer to get up to speed. I also live in Philly - any tips on good brands/stores/products to look into?
Posted by: Jeanne | 05 April 2007 at 16:01