Buy Fresh. Buy Local.

Every spring as the garden begins to send up its first asparagus and the rhubarb takes shape, I find myself opening this book once again. I love it, and I love what Barbara Kingsolver asks her readers to consider: the price beyond the price tag of supermarket food (i.e. fuel costs, ingredients we may or may not know about, how CAFOs treat their animals, etc.). She asks her readers to think about turning to more local food sources and to attempt gardening to the degree one is able. And the best part is that she has practiced what she is preaching. Her family up and moved to their farm in Virginia to embark on a "year of local eating" project, chronicled in this book.

Luckily, Marty and I live in an area that has an ever-growing affection for local food. In fact a common bumper sticker to see on any given day reads, "Buy Fresh. Buy Local." This year, more than ever, I want to support our local farms and feed my family with as many fresh and organic ingredients as possible. I have been doing some research and found a farm a few miles away that raises free-range chickens. We'll be buying a handful to deep freeze for the winter. Our brother and sister-in-law raise grass-fed hogs and beef cattle on their farm 20 minutes away that will also help us fill our freezer chest with steaks, ground beef, roasts, sausages, bacon, etc. We have a few farms and farmer's markets that will begin selling fresh produce in June. My plan is to supplement what we get out of our own garden and can or freeze as much as we are able. A trip to the local orchards should also help us put up some fruits for the winter months.

Will we be able to fully sustain ourselves on locally grown foods? No. And that is not necessarily my objective nor is it what Kingsolver is asking. She is merely asking for people to really think about the origins of our food and to make what changes we are able. I've been thinking. We, as a family, have made some decisions. Our honey, eggs, milk, meats, some cheeses, and vegetables and fruits in season will be bought locally. I'll start baking more breads from scratch. All of these little changes will start to add up in the health of our family and our local economy. I'm fully looking forward to this new adventure.

I'm sure that in the end some of the changes will stick and some will not, but I truly am excited to see where this takes us. Humans ate what they could find locally for thousands of years--hence the food cultures so ingrained in most cultures. I think it is time for me to find out what the south-east corner of Massachusetts has to offer. I think I will be pleasantly surprised.

1. local food
2. farmers
3. a new goal for our family