The Boomerang

Darn, once more I let 2 weeks slip by without posting, what happened? I have to echo Denise's most recent blog post that not only has it been quite busy, but somewhere along there trying to do the 100 km diet just became more or less normal

OK, I have encountered another obstacle to the local eating which I think of as the boomerang. My reference earlier to gourmet mustards is a classic example. In that case the mustard seeds are Canadian, probably prairie grown. These are shipped to Europe, processed into mustard, and then shipped back. As a result the total distance is huge relative to even prairie produced mustard.

There are other traps. Assume that you love soba noodles as I do. Looking around you discover Sobaya brand soba noodles are made in Cowansville PQ (near Sherbrooke). Assuming they use local grain, which I still have to check, that is about 250 km. Not exactly 100 Km, but a huge difference from some of the other producers in Vancouver, California and Japan.

So far so good, except .... while some distributers of Sobaya ship through Montreal, others go through Toronto. If you are buying noodles that have gone through Toronto the total travel is more like 1200 km, not 250; ouch. The good news for soba lovers is that the Bank St Herb and Spice orders through Montreal, so you can feel relatively vistuous eating those.

Which is why it is not enough to know where something is processed or grown, you have to figure out both of those AND how it is distributed. Which is enough to make you throw up your hands and give up. Wait, there is hope.

First, I and others are slowly researching this. If enough of us collaborate on figuring out the food system and where you can get the best alternative we will soon have a wikipedia or local food sources. This will mean you can identify your best choices, and like any brand preferences, once you know what you want it is easy to remember.

Second, as more people try to eat locally we create a market for services like Small Potatos Urban Delivery (SPUD) . They are a service where you order on-line and it is delivered to your door. In the radio clip I heard the founder noted that every truckful that goes out for delivery replaces an entire supper market's parking lot full of cars. That's a lot of carbon saved right there, but there's more.

SPUD is organic (yeah), they pay producers fair price, and they source as much of their food as possible locally. They do the work od identifying the sources, you just order what you want.

So far SPUD is only to be found in Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, and I understand there is a new satore in Seattle, so no Ottawa deliveries yet. However, if there are enough of us committed to low carbon, earth friendly diets it will not be long before SPUD or something like it sets up shop in Ottawa.

Don't wait though, start trying a no Carb(on) Diet now,at least as far as is reasonable for you. Let's let them know that there is a market here and the sooner they set up shop here the better.

Am I going to continue my 100 km conversion? Of course, it is normal now. It will be a while before I have used up all my old rice and flour etc, but I am well on my way to scoring 90/100 for the carbon impact of my diet.

Just happy to see me?

Glahh, nothing for ten days .... been kind of busy, but there is a backlog of things to talk about and I'll only manage a couple of them today.

First comment is about ... fruit. This is the one that comes up very often when I talk to people about the 100 km Diet. Variations of "I could not live without bananas" or "It would be so unhealthy without fresh fruit" or some such. Three observations:

One, if you begin by focusing on what you are missing you are dead, no matter what the endeavour. For example, imagine you have just met the perfect partner for you, I mean "The One", the mythic ideal.

Got that? OK then. Now start thinking about everything you will lose. The relationship will take time. You will not be able to date anyone else. If you move in together you will lose some of your privacy, etc. Even if the person is perfect the simple act of focusing on what you lose will make it seem like hell.

Any and every choice we make closes the door on all the options we didn't choose. Choosing the 100 Km Diet means 'losing' some things, and gaining others.

Second, the 100 Km Diet does not mean no fruit, it means a more limited selection. Apples, pears, even peaches from the Kitchener area if you are willing to stretch the 100 Km a bit. As well there are other sources of vitamin C and the other nutritional benefits of fruit.

Third, most of the fruit we eat tastes like plastic compared to the fruit you get in the place of origin. Anyone who has traveled in the tropics knows that the things we get called mangos and bananas are an abomination compared to what is available there. The reason of course is that the stuff we get has been bred to be durable for shipping. Durable does not equal soft, juicy, rich.

In the same vein if you eat local fresh fruit you will find it more tasty than the imported plastic. Have you ever had a farm fresh Crenshaw melon? or local peach pie? Heaven I tell you, absolute heaven. For all of the apples, melons etc there are dozens of varieties that give you a tremendous range of choice of taste.

Granted I know of no local source for Mitzu apples, but I don't know that they could not grow here. As more people buy local we should be able to support a much broader array or fresh and preserved fruit options, but it won't happen until we make an effort to support the farmers trying to do it.

Now it is true that the local stuff is more seasonal, but I don't know why we could not can and preserve local fruit for winter. Certainly I have frozen local pears in my freezer, and while they may not count as fresh fruit they are fantastic in baked goods and various dishes; pear kugel, trust me!

Another thing I wanted to mention is that as people hear that I am trying this the suggestions and help is trickling in. Thanks to Kristina who brought to my attention that there is a local brewery that makes organic beer! and it is available on tap in several local bars. Check out: http://www.beaus.ca/ if one obstacle is where to hang with friends.

Thanks to Connie for "BTW - barley is one of my fave rice alternatives" as well as an example of just how far our food can travel (and hence how carbon expensive it is), "my French friend (who lives near Dijon) says that for many years, all Dijon mustard has been made from Canadian mustard - but is shipped to Dijon for processing to justify the place brand. (The French farmers
refused to grow it anymore - given its weedy (invasive) tendencies!)"


So Yikes, that means it's double the carbon cost of a real import ... scary!