Day Two

Second day of eating locally! I did not eat anything for breakfast today because it is difficult to eat locally when you're on the go. For lunch I decided to make pancakes. Luckily we had Minnesota syrup on hand, otherwise we would have been eating our pancakes with honey. The pancakes had a different texture; when I was mixing them the batter seemed to froth. Locally grown food has a different texture. Turned out the pancakes were delicious and we ate locally manufactured strawberry applesauce to go with it.

I thought I did a really good job buying food at Seward's, but it already seems to be a little scarce. After work my mom and I decided to go to Lund's to hunt down some locally grown food. We found some more cheese and tomatoes, but they had nothing else in the produce section. The lady there told us we should have come three months ago or to try again in the summer. I have been told that numerous times. We tried to find local peanut butter, but no such luck. The best alternative was sun-butter, a sort of peanut butter made out of sunflower seeds. We were also very excited to find summer sausage for my lunch and wild rice sausages for dinner. We found pasties from Wisconsin and root beer! We also got, ice cream, egg, strawberry crisp, and yogurt.

For dinner we ate the pasties (a meat and potato filled pastry). My parents thought they were very funny by labeling our ketchup bottle as local. It got us talking about how difficult it would be to eat solely locally grown food.

I am confused on a few things. Firstly, I do not understand how packaged foods I bought at Seward's could be local. Do they grow all the ingredients locally or is it simply put together locally? Also, if something is manufactured somewhere, are all its ingredients from the same place? If you were not allowed to eat any packaged or frozen items while on a locally grown food diet, Minnesotans would need to be canning day and night all summer long. It would be very difficult to sustain this lifestyle without thorough planning.

This lifestyle is not for the short on cash. We have been very surprised to find that prices have been very high. My mom was shocked to find out that for $85.00 we only got that much meat. For $123.00 of groceries we could not have lasted a week. We racked up another $82.00 at Lund's (total minus plant, see receipt- click to enlarge). If you were not committed to this lifestyle it would be difficult to spend this much money on food.

It is also very difficult not having any fruit. We were discussing how people got their vitamin C in the olden days, but we still have not figured it out. It could have been that they stored apples and other fruit that can be grown in Minnesota. Or my mom said that potatoes do have a little vitamin C. I miss not having any fruit or juice. At least this half of the experiment is only for a week. I can't wait for Target week!

Day One

My family began eating locally today. I think we will lose weight on this locally grown diet. I was quite hungry all day.

I began the day at 8:30 driving to the farm with my dad. We ate local bread and jam with milk for breakfast. We traveled 43.8 miles to buy locally grown beef, lamb, and chicken. All their livestock was grass fed. We arrived around 9:30 and were greeted by the farmer and his son, Mike and Brandon. They took us to the barn and introduced us to all the sheep. They didn't have many sheep, but they were cute, though very shy. They had some lambs that had been born recently.

Mike and Brandon farm on six acres. Each had another day job and their farm was work on the side, though a full time job in itself. Next they brought us to their giant freezer. They brought out boxes of meat for us to choose from. We bought two chickens, two pounds of ground beef, three steaks, a rack of lamb, and lamb for stew. It cost us $85.00 and they threw in three bacon burgers. It was very expensive meat, but we felt like we were also paying for the time they spent talking to us. Other people would not be paying to get a tour and I am beginning to realize eating locally is very expensive.

Next they took us to see the cattle. They were stored at Mike's father's farm, a 40-acre lot. We met Swissy, the milk cow, who they had pulled from the herd because she was being bullied. It was nice to see a farmer who was able to tell when a cow was being bullied or getting too skinny. Swissy let us pet her and seemed very docile for a cow. We also got to see the bull. He was huge and we didn't get close to him. We asked a few more questions and it was obvious the farmers were passionate about their work.

My dad and I took away two main ideas from this visit. First we learned how difficult it is for small scale farmers to make a living. With limited markets, materials, and animals, these farmers have to work extremely hard to break even. Secondly, we found out that eating locally can be quite expensive. While we knew full well that Mike and Brandon worked hard for these animals and deserved the price they marked, it was difficult knowing we could buy the same product for much less at the grocery store. For instance, we bought a free-range, grass fed, chicken for $14.00; at Lund's you can buy a much plumper chicken for $4.50.

For lunch I ate a bagel and cream cheese. It was surprisingly delicious. I also ate some dried cherries. My whole family has commented on the difference of the spread. Our butter and cream cheese from the normal grocery store is very smooth and easy to put on. These spreads are very tough, as if lacking oil.

For dinner we cooked a chicken (we put on seasoning that was not local...). It took over an hour to cook. We also cooked a giant beet, four potatoes, and some peas. It was a good meal, but the chicken had very little meat on it! It had very fit little legs and about a third of a normal chicken's breast meat. The skin on the chicken was very tough. I would not say it was the most enjoyable meal as it took a very long time to cook and was not the tastiest.

At ten o'clock I was starved. My boyfriend and I were planning to go to Perkins, but then I realized that Perkins is not local. It was kind of sad having to go home to eat. It made me realize how making a decision about the way you eat not only affects you, but also the people around you. I went home and had a peach yogurt.

Just the Beginning

Today I began my search for locally grown food. My neighbor Pam was kind enough to give me the number of three local meat farmers and a place just down the road that sells fresh eggs. My brother, Luke, gave me the name of four co-ops in Minneapolis and St. Paul he thought would sell locally grown food.

I began by calling the meat farmers and struck out on two out of three. No one seems to answer his or her phone during the day. But, Sunshine Harvest Farms answered the phone and I set up an appointment to visit the farm and buy meat tomorrow.

I also called the co-ops. The first place, The Wedge, told me they had potatoes, tomatoes, and green cabbage that were locally grown. I did not think we could live off just that so I called Lakewind's Natural Foods. They told me I was out of luck and to come back in three months or try the farmer's market in May. The next place I called was Seward Co-op in Minneapolis. Jackpot! They told me they had locally grown parsnips, spinach, onions, potatoes, shallots, basil, tomatoes, mushrooms, lettuce, beets, turnips, and rutabaga. I was thrilled. The final place I called did not seem to understand what I was asking and kept telling me they had lots of produce, but not whether or not it was local.

After work I drove 17.9 miles to Seward Co-op. This grocery store is a great place for those looking to eat locally. Every fruit and vegetable is labeled as to where it is from. All gluten-free, organic, and local food item is labeled. This was a big help for me. I did not have to read every label and could tell exactly where it came from. Not only did Seward Co-op have local vegetables, it had local pasta, granola, cheese, milk, eggs, and many other things. In order for the food to be categorized as local it has to be from within your state and its four surrounding. Our local states include Iowa, Michigan. Wisconsin, and the Dakotas. I bought $123 of locally grown food (see receipt above) and am excited for the challenge to begin.