"What is local?" or "I Haven't Started Making My Own Pet Food... Yet"

So just exactly what is local anyway? Is it the distance you can drive and return home on one tank or on one gallon of gas? Is it how far you can travel by bicycle or on foot comfortably? Does it mean within your own town, or within a specific radius of miles? I think you see where I'm going with this. It can be a complicated equation. And I'll throw another variable at you. Does it have to be the same for everything you are sourcing? 

I'll be completely honest with you. I haven't started making my own pet food..... yet, nor am I buying  it from someone who does at prices rivaling a New York strip steak. But I have stopped buying it from the grocery store and started to buy it from my local family owned feed store. At least that way I know that profits on the purchase will stay in my community. So my pet food purchase is advancing one of my localization goals. It is improving the health of my local economy. But economic health is not the only goal of localization. I personally think that too much focus on the economy is the cause of many environmental, social and humanitarian crises around  the world. 

So I'll get to the point.. In considering what is local I want to think about how far it has traveled, if it was produced ethically (meaning humans and animals were not harmed or exploited in its production), and if it was produced in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner. I'll look first in my own town and neighboring communities, next I'll try to keep it within my own state or region if possible and if I can 't find it there I will see if I can find a reasonable substitute (like substituting prunes for raisins). Before I go much farther afield I'll ask myself if I can do without it. I'm betting that in most cases I can find a reasonable substitute or do without, but there may be some times that I need to go a bit further. At each step it is important to remember to look for products that are ethically and environmentally produced. 

One example of a real challenging product is coffee. Since there is no coffee grown in the continental US, what does one do if they just can't seem to give up their coffee habit?  I've found a pretty good substitute for coffee that is made with a mixture of herbs and spices, but some folks don't have my taste for it and sometime I want a real cup of coffee myself. I'm fortunate in that we have a coffee roaster here in town. So you find yourself the nearest coffee roaster that roasts organic free trade coffee and you drink a bit less of it, because it does cost more than the other stuff and because, after all, you are trying to reduce your carbon footprint. You sit back and enjoy your locally roasted, organic, free trade coffee and you are happy because you made a decision not based purely on how much it cost YOU, RIGHT NOW but on what it will cost the planet and its current and future inhabitants if you don't stop to think before you spend. You sip and you smile. You did good.

No I haven't started making my own pet food yet but, at some point, I probably will, once I work out my own food storage plan and can make a little room in the freezer. I hear you asking, "why would you do that?" Well, I'll tell you... in another post :-) 

My pet. He's definitely cute enough to deserve home-made pet food

Day 5: Local Photo Shoot

Well folks, it has been another very long day. 9 hours at the office and an hour of commuting followed by dinner and housework and yet more apple peeling. I'm exhausted. No energy for a lengthy post tonight, but I will share with you some photos of our recent activities that haven't made it onto the blog yet. I hope you will find them in turns amusing and inspiring. So, without further ado, on with the photo shoot!

I only wish you could smell this! These spices came home yesterday whole from the bulk bin at the local health food store.

Hubby ground them up this evening and made them into a most delicious chai which I am drinking even as I type this. 

The inside of the nutmeg. I thought it was just gorgeous on top of smelling heavenly

Step One: spiced apple and pumpkin wine 

Nora nibbling on some greens in the garden while we were putting it to bed and planting the winter rye. She snacked on her fair share of seed as well. Gladys and Mama Cass got in on the action as well

We don't begrudge them their few treats, as they provide us with these delicious eggs.

Just one of many dozen's of apples we peeled. The pies and sauces we'll enjoy this winter will be ample reward.

A happy apple. Yes it has a few spots but it has never been exposed to pesticides or chemical fertilizers, that makes it happy and makes me happy too.

After looking at these photos, I bet you can see why I said yesterday that my general happiness level has improved already. Well that's it for my photo shoot.  Perhaps tomorrow I'll be able to get up that post on "what is local" that I've been promising myself and you that I would get in here. 

Why Localize?

If the news of supply chain disruptions in the US due to cataclysms abroad, oil spills, molasses spills, economic peril for the greater part of the world's people and environmental degradation on a scale unprecedented in human history aren't enough to open our eyes to the need for localization I'm not sure what is. 

I have an idea though that what we need is not more gloom and doom prophecies. While we need to be aware of the dangers, what we really need is hope. We need to know that there are alternatives, that they are achievable and that they will produce positive abundant results. We need to know that while the task seems insurmountable and impossible to tackle on our own, we are NOT alone. There are many others like us out there passionate about doing their part to make this world a better place. We need to do our part too. Every day in big ways and small, we can make changes that will move this world on the road to a better future. 

I can do my part by setting a positive example and sharing my successes -and my failures- with you here.

Challenge number one: getting the family to support and participate in achieving my goals (more on that in a later post).

Success number one: preserving local food for winter use. It doesn't get any more local than this!

These jars of Salsa Verde were made from green tomatoes, green peppers, onions and cilantro all grown in our own garden and canned by my fabulous husband. Thanks sweetie! I'll be enjoying this tangy delight on everything from nachos, to enchiladas to salad for the next 6 months. (There are another 10 jars you don't see in this picture.)

We also scored these wonderful finds at Chase Farms in Wells, Maine. Chase farms is one of the oldest continuously operated family farms in the US. 50 pounds of Chippewa potatoes grown exclusively by Chase Farms and harvested with a horse-drawn digger. These will be a great addition to the root cellar. Potato and Leek soup in December will be a welcome treat.

And these beautiful squash along with Chases own humanely treated, vegetarian fed, all natural beef and local Maine Cheese. 

Our larder is filling up with dry beans, flour and other sundries from local farms, markets and our own garden.

What are the payoffs? Along with the culinary delights described above and the fabulous batch of chili my darling is cooking up at this moment with some of that gorgeous green sauce, are the sense of real deep satisfaction and self confidence garnered from being able to take care of one's self directly without relying on wages earned working for someone else to provide for our daily food. The connections and friendships made with local food suppliers and the knowledge that by purchasing the fruits of their labor we are helping them to meet needs such has clothing, shelter and energy. And what's more, by doing this we have reduced food miles, carbon emissions and our dependence on fossil fuels just a little bit while enjoying some of the freshest, healthiest food we've consumed in a long time. 

A Year of Living Seasonally and Locally in York County, Maine

The movement toward local sustainable living is catching on with concerned individuals across the globe. As climate change continues to threaten our future, more of us need to be asking ourselves the question, “what can I do NOW to avert the looming environmental, economic and social devastation that is inevitable if we don’t make a change?” In response to this question, I have decided to embark on the adventure of local living. I will make every attempt to source all of my personal and household needs from within my local area (80% of food, goods, and services to be produced and purchased from within 50 Miles, with the remaining 20% produced and purchased from within New England.) I believe that if I cannot locate what I need or the materials with which to make it from within that area, then I don’t really NEED it, and I can live without it. (We'll see.... And you'll read about it here. Anyone know a toilet paper manufacturer in New England?)

Living in the North East. I’ve picked a challenging time of year to embark on my experiment of living locally and seasonally. The equinox has just passed. Days are getting shorter and the bulk of the season’s harvest has already been brought in. Perhaps I should have timed this better, perhaps more planning now and starting in the spring would make things go more smoothly, but I’m eager to get started. The situation is desperate for our world. There is no time to wait. And, the harvest IS coming in. There are long cool evenings just perfectly suited to puttering in the kitchen, canning and storing up summer’s bounty. The Alpaca down the road have warm coats and I’m looking forward to getting myself a cuddly sweater and some yarn for knitting myself a nice toasty pair of socks or bedroom slippers.

Is your life filled with things purchased from big box stores, shopping malls and the internet, things that have not made your life richer or more satisfying? As I embark on this adventure in search of a life richer in experience and wealth of spirit, I invite you to join me. Together we can start a revolution that will set this world back on the right path. Stay tuned to this blog and to my website www.sustainableme.me to follow my journey and get valuable tips, information, inspiration and resources for helping you on yours.   I believe that as you travel this road, you will experience a greater sense of gratitude and connection with your environment. You will begin to have a greater appreciation for the simple pleasures of life; a warm sweater, hearty roasted root vegetables, a fresh salad, sun kissed strawberries, all in their own season.

As I step out onto the road, I look forward to meeting you just around the bend or over the next rise. I am filled with anticipation for the new discoveries we’ll make, the adventures we’ll have, the truths we’ll find, and the friends we’ll meet along the way.

Please share this post with the planet. The “One Earth Revolution” begins November 1, 2013. Visit http://www.sustainableme.me/one-earth-revolution.html for more information.