Eat Local Challenge
Want to eat more local foods but not sure where to begin, when to begin, or how to stick to it? Look no further, aspiring locavore! Here’s a fun, healthy and easy way to go local.
This September, you can kick-start your quest to eat more local by joining the “Eat Local America” challenge, presented by food co-ops around the country. This national challenge celebrates and supports the growing interest and passion to eat (mostly) locally grown or produced food - inviting individuals to try to consume as much local food as they can.
When is the Tucson Eat Local America Challenge?
The Food Conspiracy Co-op is hosting an Eat Local America challenge for two weeks in September, a time of bounteous harvest in Southern Arizona. The exact dates of the challenge are September 15th-September 30th — but you can start sooner if you want.
How much local food do I have to eat to participate in the challenge?
You can determine the goal that makes sense for you or your family. For some, the goal could be to consumer 80% of your food from local sources. For others, it could be to add one local ingredient to each meal, and for others still it could be to simply try a few new local products each week. This challenge is meant to be fun and exciting and each individual can define the “challenge” component for him or herself.
What can I call local during my challenge?
Again, this is up for debate and can be tailored to suit your individual needs. At the Co-op, we put local stickers next to any product that was grown or produced in Southern Arizona. In most cases, our local products are from less than 100 miles away, but in some cases they can come from slightly farther away. Some local food eaters have begun to define local food by the area’s foodshed instead of by a set distance in miles. Our foodshed in Southern Arizona may include Phoenix, parts of Mexico, and even areas in Southern California.
At the Co-op, we also include items that are produced in Southern Arizona as local goods, even if some of the ingredients have been imported from other parts of the country. We feel that locally produced bread, for example, benefits this community and the environment in many of the same ways that locally grown foods do. You can determine whether you want to include locally produced goods in your local challenge.
How is the Co-op going to help me in my local challenge?
Great question. We’ve been talking to our local growers all summer to let them know that we want as much local food as they can possibly sell us so that our shelves are full of local fruits and veggies, meats, dairy products, honey, cheese, wine, jams and even beans. We’ll also have our locally produced breads, granola, hot sauce, tempeh, and more.
In addition to being stocked with local foods, we’ll have sample menu plans available, recipes that highlight local ingredients, and Avenue Deli dishes that feature local ingredients for meals when you just don’t feel like cooking yourself. To help get everyone excited about our local challenge, we’re planning a farm tour to visit some of our local growers, and possibly other special local food events.
How do I sign up to participate in the challenge?
Click here to sign up to take the challenge. You can also visit the Co-op to sign your name to a poster on the wall and pledge to take the challenge. You can also send an email to Torey at the Co-op and she’ll add your name to the poster for you. Once you’ve signed up, visit the Co-op’s Eat Local blog to post questions or comments to other Tucson locavores.
How can I find out more about this challenge?
For more information about the challenge, read this article from the June/July issue of Community News.
Or check out the Eat Local America page at www.eatlocalamerica.coop.
You can even read Outreach Coordinator, Torey Ligon’s blog about eating locally all summer long.
Or, you can pick up the phone and call Torey at the Co-op and she can tell you all about it. She can be reached at 624-4821 during the week.
What other local resources should I look into if I want to eat more local foods?
Great question. Check out some of these excellent local organizations.
Tucson Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
The Community Food Bank’s Food Security Center
The Santa Cruz Heritage Alliance