100 Mile Dieting: How We Can All Benefit by Eating Locally Grown Foods

The 100 Mile Diet

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In March 2005 Canadian writers Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon began a one year journey of eating only foods that were all from within 100 miles of their home. The pair documented their journey in the form of articles published on  The Tyee, an on-line magazine that is centers itself around news in British Columbia. The couple later turned their experience into a book titled The 100 Mile Diet A Year of Eating Locally, that went on to spend five weeks on McLean’s non fictional best seller list.

The idea of eating only locally grown foods came about after an August 2004 visit to their cabin in B.C. where the couple had invited guest for dinner, only to realise that their food supplies were nearly depleted. Determined to feed their guests, Smith and MacKinnon searched the area around the cabin for edibles. Their guests dined on trout with wild mushrooms,  apples, sour cherries, and rose hips, dandelion leaves, as well as potatoes and garlic from their own garden.

The book tells not only of their one year journey of finding and eating only locally grown foods, but of the impact the decision made in their lives.

Why Choose Locally Grown Foods?

Locally grown food is better for the environment: Most produce travels thousands of miles before reaching the shelves in our local supermarkets. Buying locally helps to eliminate the gasoline fumes that pollute the air during transportation.

Locally grown food  is better for the economy: Farmers only make a few cents from every dollar that consumers spend buying what they grow. After the cost of shipping, marketing and a list of other costs are paid for, the farmers make almost nothing. When farmers sell locally, not only are most of these costs avoided by the producers, but by the consumers as well.

Locally grown food are healthier and taste better: Tomatoes that are for export are picked and packed while they are still green so that they do not bruise during transport. They are sprayed with chemicals en route to ripen them.  Fruits and vegetables found at farmers markets and brought directly to the market with no time available to chemically alter their taste or presentation. What you see is what you get.

Why Not Try It?

While it is true that not all of us have the available resources to eat 100% locally, we quite often have more than we think we do. I have always grown my own fruit  and vegetables and I get my organic eggs and chicken from a family member, but until I started reading about The 100 Mile Diet, I never realised exactly how many food sources I have close to home.

Without going more than ten miles from home I can purchase locally grown produce, butter, ice cream, eggs, chicken, pork/bacon , lamb, beef, honey( as a sugar substitute), grains and several species of fish that are there for the taking (if I’m lucky)

If I were to travel the entire 100 miles I can also purchase locally grown farm raised Venison, Ostrich and Buffalo as well as sunflower oil and cheese, beer and wine.

So why not say goodbye to packaged and processed foods and check out what you can find locally. You’ll be surprised at what you can find!