Ten Reasons I Eat Local

1. The food is amazing. Have you ever eaten one of the summer’s first blackberries right off the vine. It is nothing like one that arrives in a little plastic box from Chili. In every instance where I’ve chosen local food over food shipped a distance I find the quality is better, usually much better. There is even a study that proves Oregon Strawberries are better. Here’s a link http://www.oregon-strawberries.org/

2. You get to meet farmers. I like Willamette Valley farmers and look for any excuse to meet them. People who make their living growing flavorful, nutritious food are almost always interesting, intelligent, exceptional people. They risk everything to do it too. Variations in the weather, the soil and the market can easily wipe them out and yet they work endless hours to fill our plates with wonderful stuff.

3. You get to check out farms. Touring a farm will teach you that some of the world’s most innovative people who are leading the way on renewable energy, water conservation and land preservation are farmers.

4. You get to pay a farmer directly. It makes me feel good to know who is getting my food dollar. In 1950 farmers got 40 cents of every dollar that was spent on food, now they get around 20. If we want people to keep growing great things for us we’ve got to change to make sure they can make a living at it.

5. It’s good for the local economy. One study from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture concluded that if an additional 10 percent of 28 common fruits and vegetables were grown and sold in Iowa, it would result in $54.3 million in sales for Iowa farmers (based on wholesale prices).

6. It’s good for the environment. The Leopold Center also determined that a common dinner of roast, potatoes, carrots, and green beans could travel a collective distance of 5,375 miles through conventional channels before reaching the dinner table. I have all of those things in my freezer and cupboards right now and none of them traveled more than 20 miles.

7. The food is more nutritious, really it is. Again from the Strawberry Commission website. A study conducted by Dr. Mary Ann Lila of University of Illinois, suggested that the climate of the Northwest creates berries that are higher in health benefits because the plants are exposed to more stressful weather conditions and as a result produce protective phytochemicals that are beneficial to humans and help the plant ward off disease. Here’s the scoop on some of our other berries http://www.oregon-berries.com/common/docs/BERRY101.pdf.

8. It connects me to where I live, the seasons, the weather, the soil, the water. When the summer is cool I wait longer for blueberries and am crazy for them by the time they arrive, when it’s too cool in the spring for bees to come out at the right time I pay more for the few peaches that arrive, when it’s a perfect season for cherries I rejoice in the abundance.

9. The coolest people are into eating local. I don’t mind putting myself in the same club as Barbara Kingsolver, Lin Rosetto Casper and famous chef Alice Waters.

10. There are so many choices of local food in the Willamette Valley, even in winter. Here is a list of currently available local foods from Ten Rivers Food Web in Corvallis.

Fresh: kale, leeks, beets, fennel, carrots, turnips, spinach, celeriac, parsnips, broccoli, parsnips, kohlrabi, rutabaga, cauliflower, mushrooms, red and green cabbages, Brussels sprouts, Chinese cabbages, mustard greens, hardy lettuces, Swiss chard, apple cider, corn salad, collards, endive, arugula, Boc choi, cilantro, kiwi. Storage foods: garlic, onions, shallots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squashes, dried beans, dried corn, walnuts, hazelnuts, chestnuts, amaranth, quinoa, honey, wheat, rye, oats, spelt, barley, kamut, wild rice, yakon, apples, flax. Dairy: milk, cream, butter, yogurt, ice cream, buttermilk, sour cream, cow cheeses, goat cheeses, cottage cheese. Eggs. Meats: beef, goat, pork, lamb, rabbit, buffalo, chicken; Fish, seafood. Dried/Frozen/Canned: (virtually anything!) jams, jellies, juices, all fruits, all vegetables, mushrooms, pickles, meats, fish, seafood.