Warts, Imperfections and All

Well, I managed almost 3 full days without eating anything that was outside of the 100 km range!! The bad news is that it was because I had flu and actually I ate nothing at all in that period, so that's not really much of an achievement 8-(.

OK, imperfection ... in trying to maximize the portion of my diet that is grown within 100 km of my home I am trying just that, to maximize rather than make it 100%, at least for the forseeable future.

In the first place 100% may well be impossible, if not profoundly unhealthy. For example, while La Soyarie is a local tofu producer I have yet to confirm that their source of soy beans is local. Assuming that they are, do I also insist that their precipitating salts used in production are also produced locally? and if they are not do I exclude this from my diet?

For me the answer is "no", the tofu would still be 99%+ local and hence meet the criteria for me. So I will never be 100%, but I am going to do my best.

How am I approaching this? Well, for a start I have NOT tossed out 2/3rds of my kitchen and started fresh ... that would sort of defeat the whole "not waste resources" aspect of the exercise.

1) I am not purchasing any new fruit or veg that do not meet the 100 km criteria, or close to it. At the moment the best I have managed for apples are from about 130 Km, but close enough. I am also not buying any prepared foods for myself (bye bye lunch time samosas, damn).

2) As I go along I note what I use to cook with and classify things as "gone forever", "need" or "other".

For the "need" group I am trying to find local sources and am in the process of creating a resource base to share that information with people who would like to try to get more of their diet locally.

For the "gone forever" group the name pretty much says it all. I might have some chocolate at Christmas and olives on my birthday, but for the most part this group is banished.

For the "other" group I am also seeking local suppliers, but if they cannot be found I will have to do some serious thinking. There are some things I am hanging on to regardless, like coffee.

Some things I may continue to consume if enough of my diet is under 100 km and the product in question is of minimal weight. For eg raisens from southern Ontario may stay as I do not consume that many and St Catherines is not that far. Dates and figs however, are heavier and travel a lot farther. Almonds? I do not eat that many, but most come from California. Can I find a closer source? Georgia?

Speaking of which, I am NOT just going with "buy Canadian". The fact is that Florida is closer than Kenora, and that is still in Ontario. As such BC apples would have a much greater carbon cost than Florida oranges.

There are still a lot of issues to work out, such as dried fruit. If it is dried using generated heat then it may not have much less carbon cost than if it was shipped fresh. And what about my frozen garden veggies? and my canned eggplants and peppers? Did I use more energy freezing and canning than if I simply ate fresh shipped from Florida or Louisiana? I am working on answering these questions.

At the end of the day what I am looking for is a diet that is healthy, varied, interesting, and has as low a carbon cost as I can manage. I will be sharing what I learn so that others who would like to reduce their environmental footprint are able to do it with rather less effort than I am currently putting into it.

But I am also not going to give up simply because I cannot reach 100%, 90% or some other arbitrary figure. If I can significantly bring down my dietary cost by 80%, 60% or even only 40% it is still a significant improvement, and I hope some of you will try to do the same.

Until next time ...