5 Days!!!

WOW! 5 Days to go and I become a home-grown-eating-low-carbon-emitting-100 days without avocados-probably going to plan a trip to the tropics-vegan-locavore!!!!

Even though I've been preparing for this now for a month now I still worry that I'm not adequately prepared. I hope my follow veg-heads have been prepping as well because I can't imagine being thrown into this adventure without having sourced some essentials. 

The past week was a lot easier than the first few visits to some local stores. I had my first order of Bailey's Local Foods and the Loft Co-op Program. Bailey's offers the hard to find local goods like 100 mile bread and nut products and Loft has a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.

Now nervously stroking off the last few days I have yet to figure out the challenge of taking local with me wherever I go. I never realized how much I depended on quick and easy foods when I am out and about. If you see a girl strolling through the Loo with a basket on wheels and piles of greens and spelt bread please stop and say hello :) 

For anyone who is interested in checking out what local has to offer feel free to join me this Sunday for the kick-off of the 100 days of the 100 mile diet at a picnic potluck in Ayr.

Best of luck to everyone who is starting the challenge this weekend! 

Love

Tempeh, Home Fries and a Sigh of Relief

Yesterday began with a nervous venture into the city after finishing off the last of my grains and a fear I might return empty handed. Success was found at Eating Well Organically where I found the following:

Local applesauce (can be used as an alternative to eggs in baking)
Flour ( I’m a bread maker now don’t you know!)
Oats/Dried Apple/Rasin mix (Mmmmmm homemade granola)
Rhubarb (still could eat that stuff for dessert at every meal)
Potatoes (see excited success story to follow)
Henry’s Tempeh (after contacting Henry I’ve secured a high protein local soy source! WOOT!)

I left with an extra skip in my step and smiled the whole way home in the rain not realizing just how much anxiety I had been carrying. I suddenly felt the deepest empathy for people around the world who wake each day to secure this goal. Day in and day out, the aching of raw innards constantly nagging as the pressure of making it to the next day just to do it all over again. I’ve read it time and time again, “over 900 million people worldwide” are hungry in this very moment! And these people aren’t just hopping on a bus and walking into their local market, they are walking miles upon miles having been starving for days. Even with new found limits to my consumption I am still among the wealthiest….the mere fact that I have the choice to make a decision like this speaks of my blessings.

I hope you will take the time to reflect somewhat on the above and would love to hear your own personal connections/realization you also make along the way.

After getting home and feeling the satisfaction of putting something on my almost bare (still a 2kg tub of PB I’m working through) shelf I was craving grains and starches like no other! I diced up some fresh potatoes and tossed them around with the luxury of leftover olive oil, rainbow peppers and onions and accompanied them with my new bestie asparagus. I wish I could give a potato to the world ☺ Afterwards I tossed my oats/dried fruit mix in with some heated maple syrup and applesauce and made me some good old fashion granola!

Life as a local is going to be rewarding! 15 Days and I’m full time ☺

There may only be a few of us... but we're not alone

Well I’ve said goodbye to a few of my favourites in the last week (bananas, chickpeas, rice, oranges, mangoes) as they’ve dwindled and my commitment to only buying local has taken place. I’ve begun to ration my Earth Balance, agave syrup and remaining Van’s waffles as I realize just what a void will remain after the last few foreigners have been consumed. Sigh

After attending a talk on the 100 Mile Diet at the Clay and Glass Museum in Waterloo last night this exciting challenge as a vegan has me wondering if this is a challenge or a death sentence. This isn’t a reflection of the supportive and educated people in the community willing to help but a potential absence of efficient sources of protein I may be at a loss to find.

On the plus: 100 Mile picnics and potlucks OH MY! I am looking forward to the days of meeting in the great outdoors with other likeminded individuals surrounded by the bounty of our land….or a variation of the same foods that are in season. Either way I’m not alone and I welcome anyone who is reading this and wants to get together to share food/recipes/a day in the sun to send me a msg.

Today I will be compiling a list of the finds I’ve made so far on this mission and am open to hearing suggestions and finds of your own as I go loco in 17 days.

Please hug a tree today

I found a reason to watch television!!!!

WOOOOT WOOOOOOT!! I'm not alone :)

Since I don't have a camera following 'me' around why not watch other people as they say to themselves "the planet is in crisis, what can I do?" and take the plunge of 100 days within 100 miles!!

http://100mile.foodtv.ca/video/watch-episode-1-online-purge

Thank you Brad for the lead :)

Asparagus Pie?

I can’t say these last few days have greeted me with the normal optimism as moments of  “can I really do this?” have been taking over my usual “Whoo hoo life is full of opportunities and wonderful new things to enjoy” space in my head. I realize now that my cornucopia of foods has become sparse and that the only ‘new’ I’ll see is when the seasons begin to change.

I know that creativity will have its place in trying to construct as many alternatives to using asparagus and rhubarb (asparagus pie? rhubarb stew?) in these next few weeks but my main concern has become one of whether or not I’ll get all of the requirements to keep my body healthy and functional. I have always promised myself that regardless of the right I’m trying to wrong or the sacrifice I choose to make for someone/something else I’ll never do it at the cost of my health. But here I am wondering….. can a vegan really go completely local? Maybe it is just that I have relied for so long on the bounty of the tropics and Mediterranean that I can’t see past the big empty spot on my plate where they used to come together and fulfill all of my daily requirements in one nice little package.

Essential Fatty Acids? Pro-biotics? B12? Iodine (since salt is out and I haven’t seen Ontario seaweed….ever)? Are vitamins/supplements acceptable if there is no other alternative? Am I still living local? ( I would love your comments/feedback)

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in these last few years from being conscious of what I eat it is that you can never underestimate just what Mother Nature has packed away in the most seemingly shy of foods. *smile* Just the mention of her name and I feel refueled to let the hunt resume! 

21 Days!

My 100 Mile World

There I am! Right in the middle surrounded by the land that I will be living off of and thanking each day for the next 100 days :)!!! 

Cleaning out the Cupboards

So for those that really know me you are probably accustomed to seeing me eat…ALL the time. Few of you probably know that one of my biggest fears is starving to death. I know it seems absolutely ridiculous provided my first world luxurious circumstances but it is a fear non-the-less and it has pushed me to constantly have enough food to feed a family of 6 for 2 months should the front door of my house ever become locked and such a fate occur. Two months for 6 people or about a month for my never-ending conveyor belt of food consumption.

That being said I’ve got a LOT of food and the majority of it didn’t come from this landmass. Since one of the rules permits me to eat anything that was purchased prior to the start date I think it is only fair that I only have bare minimums and cannot resort to the squirreled away reserves I have. Starting in this very moment I am going to face my fear of starving and my challenge of 100 miles head on! This means no more grocery purchases that aren’t within the rules and a whole lot of meals consisting of rice, olive oil and So Delicious PB Zig Zag ice cream.

24 days…..

Love,

The Rules

With every challenge comes the little voice in your head that says "well...if I just..." or "It doesn't count if...". So, in order to keep myself in check I've outlined the following rules to keep me in line along the way. 

• 100 miles everywhere: 100 miles from wherever I am. This means if I travel to another city for a prolonged period of time (a weekend) I will do my best to eat within 100 of wherever that is.
  
• No 'coincidental' trips: I cannot travel to another city for the purpose of being able to purchase food that is at a 100 mile distance from the new location. A weekend in in Mexico for bananas and mangoes not allowed.
  
• Keep it vegan: I must remain vegan for the entire duration unless death/loss of sight/hearing/mobility occurs.
• No eating out: No meals at restaurants unless they provide 100 mile options/deeply committed to finding local ingredients OR
• Exceptional circumstances: such as conferences/grandma's attempt at making me something vegan
• The leftover rule: Items that have been purchased pre-100 mile diet may be used but only for seasoning/cooking purposes. Yes: salt, sugar, olive oil No: rice, non-local pasta/bread, frozen veggies from U.S. Running out the July 3rd to stalk up on the yes' is not allowed. 

Let the game begin!!

27 Days to Go!!

I just got back from the grocery store and I am getting extremely excited for July 4th to get here!! I was surprised to find that the challenge of eating within 100 miles may not be as difficult as I thought. "Good things grooooow in, Ontarrriooo!" 

I planted an assortment of vegetables in my garden last weekend and I’ve been reading up on what I will and won’t be able to get ‘home grown’ and am preparing myself for new food creations and the void that will come from removing some of my long time favourites.

I hope you will follow me on my adventure as I say goodbye to chickpeas, avocados, mangoes, bananas, rice and olive oil (and most of my vegan staples) and hello to hand picked mint tea, dandelion salad, everything apples and homemade bread. 

In all seriousness though I am extremely excited to take the challenge and learn to recognize just how global our transportation of food has become and what it is like to eat with the seasons. 

If you care to join me on my adventure or have any questions/suggestions I'd love the feedback.

Much Love and Be Well
<3