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!