100 Mile Diet Web Site

[Zucchini Mama]

Last night James McKinnon, of the 100 Mile Diet fame spoke to a class I'm taking on issues around food culture. He and his partner have just spent a year eating food sourced within approximately 100 miles of Vancouver. He had some interesting points, notably that in talking to local farmers they said they would grow more crops year round if their was a demand for it. They figure regular winter farmer's markets would not be popular enough to be profitable. I was also very surprised that farmers grow a tiny fraction of the kinds of plants that could grow in this climate, because of limited consumer demand. He was very interested in having locally grown hard beans, so a local farmer is going to grow an acre for a group of his friends to purchase-CSA on a very small scale.

Now that the year is over, he and his girlfriend are still eating mostly local food, but adding in things like rice and pasta to make their lives a bit easier. McKinnon says he also is sneaking in chipotle peppers because he misses them.

I asked him about Barnston Island-he says he has become very passionate about the ALR, and he urged us to cycle around Barnston and see how lovely it is, and what a shame it would be to turn it into an industrial park.

He and his partner have just launched a web site and are working on a book--smart cookies!

[Walter Moar]

This past week, I've been thinking about the distance my food travels to get to me, and it's rather disturbing. It's easy to get used to eating cantaloupe year round. Or asparagus and spinach out of season. Or nectarines at Christmas. Actually, eating nectarines anytime. Or mangoes, lemons, bananas, or anything else that will not grow here.

For me, a modified diet that is for the most part limited to the islands and the Fraser Valley isn't all that drastic, other than the lack of tropical fruit. It's over 100 miles, but it's much more "local" than how I currently eat. The biggest change would be the time required to store foods like berries and vegetables for out of season eating. Although I have fond memories of canned Saskatoon berries at grandma's house in the winter, I don't spend the majority of my time at home, as she did. Farmer's markets and roadside stands are great, but if I can walk ten minutes to the grocery store, does it make sense to spend a couple of hours driving to pick up local food?

I guess my personal conclusions are that it's very important to eat locally, both to limit the resources expended to ship food, and to provide a market for locally produced food. Hopefully some day we'll see a "local" section in the supermarkets, the way we see an "organic" one today. In the meantime, at least in Victoria, we have vegetable delivery services that emphasize both local and organic produce.

(When I say "for the most part limited to the islands...", it's because life without Ardbeg and European wine isn't worth living!)

[Terrasanct]

I've always thought this would be a great idea, but it's not as practical in some parts of the country. I'm not sure I want to give up oranges and coconut entirely, anyway.

[Junior]

A local writer here did her own 100 mile diest over the past year. With great results. I hope to try and follow with the restaurant and try to work our menu over the summer time as only having stuff coming from around the city. The 100 mile website is quite interesting and with little time that I have, I only glanced at it.

[Pam R]

their story has been all over the place the last few days - even on the weather network this morning!

I'm really intrigued by it - and imagine that there are some regions where it could work. But can you imagine doing it around here? What would dinner look like in the dead of winter?

I won't even get into the issues of dietary restrictions.

Living in Vancouver or the vicinity it might be viable - but do you think the rest of the region could do it?

[kontemporary]

Living in Vancouver or the vicinity it might be viable - but do you think the rest of the region could do it?

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I think it's viable to a certain degree, and really all depends on a person's tastes and wants. For example (although a bad one), the Inuit has always survived on foods such as caribou and seal up in the Arctic. It's really got to do with a lot of adaptability; before we were able to transport goods half way across the world for dirt cheap, most societies had a cuisine based on local ingredients. But if people are lusting for hamburgers/steaks/sandwiches these days, which is further supported by commercial television, the 100 mile diet is not exactly possible.. or rather, feasible. (hence, imports for wants vs. needs)

A 100-mile diet may be great for various reasons, but I'm not sure if some people are willing to give up truffles and coconuts.

.. and how does wine fit into this equation?

[Saara]

I read their series some months ago online at The Tyee and found it interesting. It's been something that I've been fascinated with since I first heard of Sooke Harbour House. I haven't yet had to opportunity to dine there as we're generally camping if visiting the island.

Just for fun after reading the series I drew a 100-mile radius circle on a map and was pleased to see Cashmere, WA on the bleeding edge leaving me with guilt-free apricots, peaches and nectarines at least.

I think it's possible to do to some degree quite easily and worthwhile. We eat organic as much as feasible and so we do only get asparagus in spring, strawberries in summer, and chanterelles and apples in the fall and winter. Of course that availability is extended dependent on my planning, canning and freezing. It does make those things all that much more special too.

Lately we've supplemented our eating with wild foods. Earlier we had nettles (some of which I've frozen for later), miner's lettuce and other greens abound, and we were just recently turned on to salmonberry shoots. This is as local as it gets since they were picked out in the yard! It's not just an exercise in survival food as these have, so far, been quite delicious!

Having said all that, I would miss many things that aren't local. Avocados and single malts come to mind not to mention coffee and chocolate. We have a winery growing Pinot Noir just 5 miles away so I'm okay with that.

Thanks for the link to their website! I look forward to reading about what they're doing now and more detail about what they learned.

(For what it's worth, we're 80 miles southeast of Vancouver, BC as the crow files.)

[seanw]

Saara,

Sounds wonderful, the miners lettuce around UBC is becoming just perfect at the moment. Dont forget the rhubarb & asparagus. Unfortunately the farmers markets in van dont come into their own until june. But i'm chomping at the bit.......sean