mamma. engineer. redheaded girl. wanna-be hippie.
One Local Summer::Week 4
I know I said I was going to jump outside my box and put together a meal a little more blog-worthy. I lie. Each week I do a little more research and bring a little more local food into the house, but with a newborn, time is still pretty rare to do things like cook a meal that takes longer than say, 10 minutes. And I can cook fish and beans in about 10 minutes so fish and beans it was. With some peppers because I love me some peppers.
I thought about titling this entry One Local Summer::Local-washing. You know, like brain-washing or green-washing but instead we’re being tricked into thinking we’re eating locally when “local” could mean “Western Canada”. And Western Canada? A pretty big place, I’m not exactly “local” to Regina, you know what I’m saying?
I walked into my local big-box grocery the other day (Save-On Foods) and noticed all these lovely signs next to equally lovely produce declaring them to be “local”. Some of them even had the farm name. Jack pot! Could it be? Could I be able to one-stop shop and eat locally? The hardest part of the this challenge for me so far is getting out of the house. Nevermind stopping at several shops for specific ingredients. I piled my cart high with local foods, beaming with pride and the thought of the all the time I just saved and how I didn’t have to endure the sounds of an unhappy baby and toddler.
Then I was lying in bed and thought to myself how that was far too easy. Even though local eating SHOULD be easy, the truth is, it isn’t. The next morning I did some investigating and sure enough “local” could be anywhere in Western Canada. While this is an improvement on say, California or Mexico, it isn’t really my definition of local.
Yesterday I went out to Coombs to pick up some truly local honey, which I hope to incorporate as the new sweetner of choice in the house, and took a look at their “local” eggs. Again we have a pretty hazy definition of local. There is a division of a larger corporation called Island Eggs where eggs are graded. The eggs are not produced on the island, but in Ontario. It is pretty easy to get local eggs where I live, but the idea of calling an egg that is graded here local bothers me. Nevermind the extensive amount of research that has to happen just to determine that.
On that note, I thought I’d post a picture of our hard-core little locavore. It doesn’t get more local than breastmilk, does it?!
5 Responses to “One Local Summer::Week 4”
a little hut
a little sauciness
angry chicken
beauty that moves
blogging for two
burrito west
craftster
creative thursday
disdressed
disney princess recovery
dooce
elephants with wings
eskiegirl
how about orange
imagine childhood
knitty
meadowsweet cottage
mini mak makings
moon stitches
my plum pudding
orange you lucky
paper forest
plants and hogs
potential energy
rosy little things
sew mama sew
smartass
soule mama
suzy says
the mayfly
the stars
The Wilting Quilter
tree hugger
two straight lines
Look at those blues! can’t wait to meet the little locavore hehe
That local label bothers me. remind me to tell you about the W5 program I saw about stuff that is labelled as “Canadian” you have probably already heard about it or have seen it but if you haven’t it will blow your mind as to what they can get away with!
* sorry for that huge run-on sentence.
She’s gorgeous! Maybe you should consider Claire being a model? Seriously – she could make money for college, etc…
What an angel-baby!
My local summer is getting off to the slowest possible start. Our cold climate means that produce comes in late. And our Farmers Market is mostly Californian, not exactly local. Still, it’s got me looking for local honey, eggs and chicken and thinking about buying a fishing license this year. So, a change in thinking has happened.
hey!!! So much to say but I’m reading your blog from my iphone so I won’t. We need to talk on the phone! Can you call me or do you want me to call you? I think you called me last time, right? Anyway, when’s a good time? I know newborn schedule is crazy and I have the same issue, but what’s tomorrow afternoon looking like for you? Email me at gmail….
You must be super busy with company, no blog updating for a whole week! I love the pic of Claire, she already looks so different from when I saw her. Looking forward to getting together with you again next week-ish?
How are Nicole Williams’ prices for photography? I think I’d like to go with her next time I do Gwen photos as Lillian only does black and white.