How local can we go?

It's New Years Eve day, the day we're all thinking about the resolutions we'll make but likely not keep, promises to change our slothful ways, be more considerate, etc. etc. etc.

Do we have a resolution? Of course we do! Not only that, it's a continuation of something we started this fall -- healthier and more local eating.

I've been reading the book "Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals" by Michael Pollan. It's very interesting to read his account of the industrial food supply since my background is in food science and way back in the 80's when I went to school, it was all about better food though chemistry. Fighting bacteria through irradiation or perhaps infecting a facility with a virus that'll destroy the pathogen. Replacing fat and sugar with non-digestible substitutes. Friends still involved in the food industry tell me that things have changed, that the current focus is "health and wellness" although I can't believe that they've abandoned productivity increases and profitability to look out for the greater good.

Some of what the book contains isn't new. I've read about the horrors of the meat industry in various places both fiction -- "My Year of Meats" by Ruth Ozeki and nonfiction -- "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser. I've also seen what happens in the food industry way back when I worked for a huge food company I shall not name.

Pollan's book has gone a long way toward making me think about environmental impact of our food supply. The energy associated with production and transportation of food, the use of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides and the strain on the soil. The dangers of monocultures.

The most compelling section of his book (so far) is about keeping our food local and sustainable. We've dabbled in this concept with our localvore CSA and while we've changed our ways a little to incorporate the foods we get through the share, we still have a long way to go.

We aren't going to try to go totally local. Let's face it, coffee is a necessity and it's not grown in the mountains of Vermont. Cementines in the dreary days of winter are little golden globes of sunshine. We aren't going to completely eliminate various food categories because they're not local and we're not going to eschew dinner out on occasion. We aren't going to go to the extreme that Barbara Kingsolver went to to write her most recent book.

But maybe we should be rethinking fresh tomatoes, berries, and green peppers in the middle of winter and eat more seasonally. We should spend more time seeking out local sources of meats and cheeses and less time in Costco and Shaws.

Maybe I should be cheering Ben on a bit more when he goes hunting. What's more local than game? We've got a freezer full of moose and venison I haven't really experimented with because, well, I don't know what to do with it.

Therein lies the biggest hurdle for me. The cooking! It's very challenging to use some of the local ingredients we've gotten though the share. We have to remember to thaw out some of the meat in the freezer. Maybe it's not accurate to say the cooking is the hurdle; it's more accurate to say the hurdle is the planning of the cooking. Pulling out a package of mac & cheese and some frozen peas for a quick dinner doesn't require any planning and neither does ordering a pizza. I can't get home from work at 5:30 and have dinner on the table by 6 if I haven't planned or cooked ahead when I've got a refrigerator full of root vegetables and nothing else. No one is going to savor a raw beet for dinner.

I've been doing a bit better lately though and it's largely because I don't work every weekday. Our share comes on Wednesday and usually I spend a good portion of the day trying to use some of the more challenging foods we receive. I've been making soups in large batches and then freezing them in family-sized containers so we'll have them for the days when I don't feel like or have time to cook.

It's a start.

Have a happy and healthy 2008 everyone!