Eating From the Backyard

A friend of mine from Madison recently sent me a copy of the Sustainable Times which was full of all sorts of environmentally friendly Wisconsin resources. While paging through it, I noticed an ad for the Willy Street Co-op's Eat Local Challenge. For one month, people are encouraged to pony up and eat as locally as possible.

In a nutshell, from Megan Blodgett's entry, "Are You Up for the Eat Local Challenge?" from the Willy Street Co-op website:

We’ll include as many challenge takers as possible by providing several different levels of challenge to choose from, from Hard-Core Locavore (everything you eat is grown locally), to Toe in the Water Locavore (at least one ingredient in each of your meals is either grown or produced locally). That way, you can have local tomatoes and your Gail Ambrosius chocolates, too. If you don’t want to choose one of our levels, you can make it up yourself and be a Choose Your Own Adventure Locavore.

Participants will get a packet with information about where to find local foods, coupons for local products, recipes and menu ideas, a food diary to record their meals and their thoughts, and access to online networking with other challenge-takers. We’ll also be hosting events throughout the month, including a celebration potluck at the end where participants will have the opportunity to share their favorite recipes and experiences. Not only will this Eat Local Challenge offer participants a chance to get to know their food, but it will allow us to get to know each other, too.

Obviously, being local and all, this caters to the residents of Madison but don't despair! The co-op's website lists a sample menu and recipes, too. For someone like me who has never taken on such a challenge, this kind of guide is darn near necessary. And as I did a little more research on the matter, I see that these challenges are taking place all over the country. Check out these sites for more guidance.

Now I must admit, this is pretty horrible timing for me to take on such a challenge so I doubt that I will sign on the dotted line for anything at the moment. However, I do plan on taking some time to look at these recipes while continuing to utilize the local farmer's market as much as possible. In fact, today's Tuesday, isn't it? Perhaps I should get out of my pajamas and think about buying some tomatoes. Judging by the weather, I won't be doing that for much longer. But that's okay. I sure do love butternut squash.