Locavores embrace the 100-mile diet

Searchingn for a local source of fresh produce? Look no farther than your own backyard. As the local food movement has blossomed throughout the nation, so have home and community gardens.

Having a garden definitely helps with maintaining a local diet," affirms Jenny Heins, president of Sustainable Ballard, a Seattle-based nonprofit. "It allows you to supplement your diet with a lot of foods that you just can't find elsewhere, even at the farmer's markets."

Heins' organization, a neighborhood environmental group based in Washington State, sponsored a month-long experiment during which she and 80 other members vowed to follow a version of the "100 Mile Diet." Inspired by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon's "Plenty: Eating Locally on the 100-Mile Diet," the group restricted its dietary choices to food grown within a 100 mile radius of their Seattle hometown.

With some exceptions, that meant no spices, no bananas, no beans, no bread, no coffee and most difficult for Heins, no orange juice or olive oil. Searching for substitutes and variety in her diet, she turned to her garden. There she grew herbs to add seasoning and personal favorites such as Asian greens and tomatillos.

Heins and her cohorts are what are known as locavores, a term coined in San Francisco in 2005 when a group of food enthusiasts sponsored the first month-long Eat Local Challenge. Since then, similar challenges have been undertaken across North America, with individuals and groups vowing to restrict their choices to foods sourced within a 100-, 150- or 250-mile radius.

The motivation for these dietary restrictions is not just the consumption of higher quality fare, though locavores swear by the improved taste and nutrition that local food offers. Consuming only locally grown food is also a way to inject money into the local economy, support small farmers over large-scale agribusinesses and reduce the pollution associated with shipping foods from such far flung places as Chile and Asia. It also provides food for thought.

According to Leda Meredith, author of "The Locavore's Handbook," the agricultural industry is one of the top three consumers of fossil fuels in the nation. The average piece of produce travels 1500 miles before it reaches your plate, Meredith says, so eating local foods can cut your carbon footprint and make a positive impact on the environment.

So, what's the hardest part of following such a strict diet? For Meredith, who spent a year on the 250-mile diet and still follows it "80 percent of the time," it's the cold winters when "all the fresh fruits go away." But rather than focusing on these restrictions, she views her diet as an opportunity for culinary adventure. It has led her to discover new favorites, such as parsley root, and provided impetus to try new flavor combinations such as a winter salad made from cabbage, apples and scallions.

We are so used to getting anything, anytime that our diets get repetitive. But, when your diet consists of local, seasonal foods, it is never boring. I get so excited every spring when the first strawberries appear and the first tomatoes ripen in my garden. Every month brings something new."

Both Meredith and Heins see locavorism as a growing trend. As part of her work as Gardening Program Coordinator for the New York Botanical Garden, Meredith has noted increased interest among gardening students over the last two years in growing foods to supplement a local diet.

Although the total number of locavores in the U.S. is difficult to determine, in the Bay Area alone, locavore.com lists more than one thousand members. And counting. Food industry analyst Phil Lempert predicted 2011 to be the breakthrough year for the 100-mile diet, when it would finally become widely adopted throughout the country.

Meredith agrees; she sees the popularity of a local diet soaring as a result of a confluence of societal factors, including increased concern over the state of the environment, the popularity of celebrity chefs who tout the freshness that local food offers, and the bad economy. Growing your own food is a way to save money during the lean times.

According to the Urban Agricultural Committee of the Community Food Security Coalition in Portland, as many as one quarter of U.S. households grow produce in their gardens to supplement their diets. Community gardens are also increasing in number reports the American Community Garden Association. With garden space so readily accessible, going locavore is easier than ever.

So, you may be wondering, "with my busy schedule or lack of culinary skills" is locavorism right for me? Plenty authors MacKinnon and Smith advocate giving the diet a try on a small scale, maybe a day, week or month, and allowing yourself the flexibility to make exceptions for the foods that you simply can't live without.

And, plan ahead to reap the delicious bounty of fresh food that your garden has to offer.