Anyway, it intrigues me, because it involves so many of the things I believe in: organic, local food, as true to its source as possible, made from scratch, preservative-free. A healthy celebration of sustainable farming practices and humane food processing. Right now, I feel like an admirer from afar, similar to a geek in love with an accomplished celebrity I cannot hope to meet because with 2 kids under 5, no nanny, no housekeeper, and no place to put a vegetable garden, let alone raise goats, I'm a little overwhelmed at the thought of starting ALL my food from scratch. I don't have time to drink 8 glasses of water a day, let alone bake my own bread. But I'm willing to follow along as best I can, and definitely think its a trend worth pursuing.
One of the best parts of the slow food movement is eating locally-produced food, and there are "Eat Local" events all across the country in September. I'd encourage you to download the "Eat Local" scorecard from the Eat Local website and see if it's possible to get your food a little more close to home. Not only is it better for the earth, but--from a strictly hedonistic standpoint, which is the best argument when dealing with gastronomes--it generally tastes far superior to generic, dumbed-down-for-masses food that has been deliberately bred to withstand long journeys from its origin at the cost of its flavor.
One great thing I've recently discovered is Sparkman's Cream Valley milk, which I get at Harry's Farmers Market in Marietta (which means pretty much any Whole Foods or Harry's Farmers Market in the greater Atlanta area will have it). It's local and tastes GREAT. I've been making special trips over to Harry's just for milk since I've discovered it. Yes, it costs more--$3.99/half-gallon where I am--but...
/start rant/
Quality costs. For lack of a better term, we have Wal-Marted ourselves into some seriously dangerous territory by demanding quantities of food at low prices--prices that, perhaps, have not realistically kept up with inflation. To get those prices, food producers have sacrificed quality for quantity, and suddenly there are tainted food scares abounding, and a desperate struggle to quash the tainted food source when it is discovered--a search made more impossible by the fact that one single food can come from so many sources it's hard to know where the food was tainted or how. While the FDA (another rant for another time, the FDA) has decided it's perfectly okay to allow growth hormones and steriods into our dairy and meat sources, it isn't okay with me. I'm always a bit leery of anyone playing God simply to make a better financial bottom line, especially when it comes to my health and my family's health. So will I pay more for food that is thoughtfully produced by people who are vested in their community and the quality of their products, for dairy and meat that is hormone-free? You betcha. And though I'm not a fan of prosletyzing, I am going out on a limb here to say you should, too. Food is so many things, but one major responsibility of food is to provide our bodies a first, natural line of defense against disease, to support the body and help it function properly. It is so important, so scrimp somewhere else, but buy good quality food.
/end rant/
So I challenge you--how local can you go?
A couple good books on the subject:
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally by Alisa Smith & J.B. McKinnon
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
“Enchant, stay beautiful and graceful, but do this, eat well. Bring the same consideration to the preparation of your food as you devote to your appearance. Let your dinner be a poem, like your dress.”
~Charles Pierre Monselet
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