100 Mile Diet: An Unsurmountable Challenge?
I quit chicken about two months ago. In some ways it’s completely freeing, in others, a pain-in-the-butt. There are days I cook with chicken stock, take sips from my kids’ Chicken Tortilla Soup knowing full well there are a couple of dead birds that went into making that bowl of yumminess. As I get older, I’ve come to understand how important food is to how I feel. Eat crap at the holidays? Feel like crap in January.
I’d heard of the 100-mile diet a few times before. It’s not a “diet” per se, it’s more like a lifestyle choice. In our daily lives, we eat “fresh” food that travels over 1500 miles before it gets on our plate. That’s a bumpy road to the table. Now, I’ve tried the vegetable and fruit delivery from local growers and I love it. There is absolutely no denying that the food looks and tastes so much better. But I’ve always found problems with the foods that show up in my box that we don’t eat at home. A few pounds of rutabaga just can’t be used in this house, even if I cooked with it every day for a week.
Then there is the issue of proteins. We live about 30 miles from the beach — there are plenty of fresh fish to eat and even more shellfish. Is it the best I’ve eaten? Not so much. And how about the turkey, beef and pork? My in-laws live near the famed Harris Ranch and that is a lot more than 100 miles from here. Cheeses are easier. There are some good dairy options that are very local to the Bay Area. If we could just live on wine alone, I could sustain myself in 20 miles (I think that’s how far away Ridge Winery is). Since I can’t live on hooch alone, I’m faced with the issue: Can I sustain our family’s diet on 100-mile radius of available foods?
100 Mile Diet
According to the 100-Mile-Diet website, I can shop as far south as Salinas, maybe stretching to Fresno, and get a bunch of local goodness from Watsonville, Hollister and Gilroy. I can get food from as far north as Sacramento (they have food in Sacramento?) and up to Santa Rosa. Now, can I do it?
The answer is, probably. The truth is, I probably won’t.
The Localvores movement has hit San Francisco, and smartly, they choose the month of September to take their 100-mile challenge. Perfect weather for fresh fruits, vegetables of both summer and fall seasons. I’m guessing the second week of January isn’t the right time of year to start the challenge. The Eat Local challenge folks keep a great blog with resources, recipes ideas and hurdles in eating within a 100-mile radius. There is also a site that made me really think seriously about this project. The Eat Wild folks do an amazing job at scoping out farms and ranches that are within the 100-mile range. They also give you resources beyond direct-to-consumer, they give you restaurants, grocery and markets that can help with the challenge. Little excuse left, I suppose.
If I were to take on the challenge, I’d have to make sure that I could provide my family with everything they are used to eating — eggs, milk, cheese, a good burger. I’d need to scope out restaurants that served locally grown fare since there is no way I’m cooking at home every day. I’d go stir-crazy. I’d want to know what grocery stores can make my life easier. Does WholeFoods do a 100-mile line of products? I’d want sneaky resources at my fingertips so I could wiggle my way through holidays and birthdays. And, I’d need to know that I can cheat and take my kids to the McDonald’s drive-thru on a whim.
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