Green Options

My family is coming for Thanksgiving this year and in the spirit of the season, we wanted to try and do something a little different, a 100-mile Thanksgiving.

The 100-mile movement is a local eating experiment whereby you buy food that is locally raised and produced from within a 100-mile radius of where you live.  We have 22 family and friends coming from up and down the East coast from Ithaca, NY to Tampa, and while the family is generally sympathetic to green-living, it required some friendly advice to pull it off. So, I sent an e-mail describing the concept and offering helpful advice, tips, links, etc.

We did our part, ordering a bunch of stuff from our milk man and local farm, Southmountain Creamery. We spent Sunday morning at the Dupont Circle Farmers Market and found all sorts of fabulous greens, yams, “Dr. Seuss” cauliflower, herbs, cheeses and chicken for stock. Once the kids warmed up with hot cocoa and croissants it was a terrific morning all around.

As for the rest of the guests, at first I heard nothing back from my email.

Then a few requests to resend the email.

Finally….

My sister-in-law from Brooklyn jumped in with apple-pear chutney to replace cranberry sauce. She also asked if chocolate from Jacques Torres in Brooklyn qualified. We decided, since one cannot pass up Jacques Torres Chocolate and we’re making a similar exception for coffee, that products with raw materials that cannot be found within a 100 miles (cocoa nibs, coffee beans) can be brought if they are processed locally. So, Jacques Torres is in as is Gimme Coffee! roasted in Ithaca, NY.

Lettüs Organic Cafe in San Francisco is an organization committed to furthering sustainable practices and healthy living. Winner of several awards, and on the top of the foodie review lists, this cafe is truly the best of the bay area, in my humble opinion. The cafe features delicious freshly squeezed juices, smoothies, salads, yummy bowls, sandwiches and their famous mouth watering garden burgers, that even carnivores yearn for. In their own words:

“In many cases, food has been growing only a day or two before it is served to our customers. When it is not available locally, we search the globe in our quest for the best organic, natural or artisan quality ingredients as reflected in our coffees, teas, and spirits.”

While the organic ingredients for Lettüs’s dishes are practically all locally sourced, that is not so with the unique materials used for the interior…For example,

Since I will not have the ability to do a serious vegetable garden or have chickens and/or goats and cows at my suburban New Jersey home . . . YET . . . I am very committed to finding locally produced food. For so many reasons I’m a local foodie. Here are a couple of them:

 - the lower carbon impact of supporting food that isn’t ‘big Ag’ produced and shipped across the country

 - I personally enjoy meeting the farmers (whenever possible) and supporting their efforts

 - the food is so much fresher and tastes better to me

 - I simply get great satisfaction in knowing that I’m helping to move towards a more sustainable agriculture system by eating/buying locally

The following list of various ways to find and buy local food is an excerpt from a story we did last May/June in Relevant Times, by Tamara Jean Scully, who is a freelance writer, specializing in agricultural issues. She is a local foods advocate, working with the Foodshed Alliance to support local, sustainable family farming. Tammy is also a part-time farmer, growing perennials, raspberries and minor fruits. tamarajeanscully.com