No matter where you are in the nation, summertime is the perfect time to consider eating more locally grown food. It's good for your local economy, good for the environment, and good for your families. Besides all of that, it tastes great.

When I began the Eat Local Challenge in 2005, it never occurred to me that it would become such a part of today's conversation. At that point, it was just a few of us around the country banging the drum for the importance of supporting local farmers and artisans.

Then came the influx: the eat local movement has been discussed in virtually every major newspaper and magazine and continues to be a top discussion nationwide. I never thought I'd see Wal*Mart saying "buying local can be a great thing for the planet." While the proof will need to be in the pudding before I start shopping at Wal*Mart, it's still a very interesting and exciting feeling when large corporations start talking about eating locally.

If you're interested in brushing up on your eat local news, the New York Times has published an on-line, comprehensive guide which has an archive of all NY Times articles and links to many eat local discussions.

If you'd like to watch an Eat Local Challenge take place in a practical manner, the One Local Summer challenge is occurring as we speak. One Local Summer challenges folks around the nation to cook, and write about, one entirely local meal each week through the summer. It's been a joy to read along as people from all reaches of the country report about their local meals.

Each year, the Eat Local Challenge website hosts a month-long challenge which asks people to consider eating locally grown food for the month. The challenge can be what you make it -- either eating entirely local food, or just committing to shopping at a farmers market each week, or having a party with all local food at some point during the month.

For the first time publicly, I'd like to announce that this year's Eat Local Challenge will be in the month of October, and we are joining together with several local groups to bring you some interesting events and exciting on-line challenges during that month. I'm more excited for the Eat Local Challenge this year than any of the previous three years, and hope that you'll keep an eye on the Eat Local Challenge website in the upcoming months to find out how you can participate.

One of the most exciting pieces of food news this year is that "locavore" has been knighted "word of the year" by the Oxford University Press. However, I absorbed the concept of the Eat Local Challenge before I did "locavore," which, in all honesty, I thought had something to do with the phases of the moon and the lycanthrope society. (It's possible I've watched one too many Frasiers.)

The first time I heard about the Eat Local movement, it was over two years ago, and since I was still trying to ferret out where to buy my favorite French nut oil, Mexican ginger beer, and New England pumpkin ale, I felt totally overwhelmed.

Did I really need to think about each and every food product that came into my kitchen when I was just starting to find my cooking legs in San Francisco? Of course not. If you give the smallest crap about eating local, it's not necessary to ensure that every food product -- salt, coffee, flour, sugar, produce, meat, Diet Coke -- in your kitchen is from local purveyors. If you give the smallest crap about eating local, you just think about what you're buying and wonder if it's local. Because you care.

That's all you need to do to effect change: start thinking about it. Start caring about it. Then maybe, you'll start acting on it. Frankly, if it hadn't been for Jen Maiser, I'd still be just thinking about eating local and not actually doing anything about it. Not only does Jen blog about eating local at her own site, Life Begins at 30, she's also the editor of the Eat Local Challenge blog and has worked at various farmers' stands at the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market.

After my failed first attempt at participating in an Eat Local Challenge, I started following Jen's efforts more and more. Her passionate, yet refreshingly frank and evenhanded writing style drew me in deeper and deeper, and before I knew it, not only was I examining every tag, sticker, and vittles visa at Andronico's, but I was delivering earnest, flushed-cheek diatribes to my Minneapolian parents and sister about why they should think to ask, "Where did this come from?" before they stuck anything in their mouths. It got to the point when my mom was collaring the hapless meat guy at Whole Foods and demanding to know why he was offering her lamb from New Zealand and not from Minnesota.

Jen shares her information widely, energetically, and -- most importantly -- nonjudgmentally. She embodies the sentiment that you don't have to harvest your own coffee beans, dry your own salt, or refine your own sugar to be a conscientious eater, you just need to wonder, "Where?"

In fact, "Where?" is the sentiment of the newest Eat Local Challenge. According to Jen, the next ELC -- set to be unveiled early next year -- is: "a challenge focused on where our everyday foods are sourced from. Instead of challenging participants to eat food from as close to home as possible, we will be asking them to take everyday items that their families eat -- processed foods like crackers and potato chips, mass-produced products, and fast food items -- and try to find out the source of the product ingredients. I think it will be interesting to learn what we can, and can't, find out about our food."

I'm thrilled that "locavore" is being recorded in the annals of history, but without the Eat Local Challenge spurring me to think, question, act, and eat, I have a feeling I'd still be assuming that locavores howled at the moon and stuffed pillows with their own hair.

This post today is going to consist of several tidbits that I have to report -- all a bit too small to warrant individual posts.

King Corn Challenge. Meghan published an interview with Aaron Woolf, the director of the movie King Corn. Curt Ellis from the movie is taking a challenge which involves not eating any corn products for the month of November. He's challenged others to take the challenge as well, and so far six brave souls are joining him. This would be difficult for me (as I'm eating a corn tortilla as I type) especially because it would basically eliminate eating any meat products at restaurants apart from a few specialized restaurants featuring grass-fed beef, but I certainly admire those who are trying it. Learn more about the challenge at Culinate.

100-Mile Thanksgiving. If you're interested in taking a one-day Eat Local Challenge, check out the 100-mile Thanksgiving Challenge that is being hosted by Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon, authors of the book Plenty. I'll be participating to the extent that I can, taking local dishes to my family's potluck Thanksgiving dinner.

De Afghanan Kabob. It was a sad day when one of my favorite neighborhood restaurants, Meditteranean Spirit on Polk street, closed in September. Happily, the restaurant has been replaced by a Fremont favorite called De Afghanan Kabob House. I can't give a full restaurant review as I've only tried a couple of things on the menu, but the entrees I've eaten have been delicious. De Afghanan's specialty is their Chapali Kabob -- an Afghani dish that is made of ground beef, green onions and spices. De Afghanan makes a delicious rendition and the restaurant is worth stopping in if you are in the neighborhood. Entrees are around $10. De Afghanan Kabob, 1303 Polk Street (at Bush), 415-345-9947.

Redwood Hill Crottin. Congratulations to the local cheesemakers at American Dairy Goat Association. Redwood Hill's Crottin cheese was the award winner (via Serious Eats).

Photo by the author. Capay Canyon Ranch (pdf) almonds, currently available at the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market (Saturdays).

Have you driven Highway 80 lately? If you were traveling to Sacramento or Lake Tahoe, you may have noticed an exciting new attraction along the way. The Nut Tree in Vacaville -- a part of the history of the area since the 1920's -- has reopened and has new retail stores, restaurants, and rides for children.

One of the new shops in the "Nut Tree Village" is the Capay Valley Valley Farm Shop. The Capay Valley is an area of Yolo County, approximately 100 miles northeast of San Francisco. It's an abundant growing region where fruit and vegetable crops in addition to wheat, wine, beef, lamb, olive oil, honey, walnuts and almonds are produced. Farmers of the Capay Valley joined together to create the Capay Valley Farm Shop in a location convenient to the many drivers on Highway 80.

That the Farm Shop is located in the historic Nut Tree complex is fitting. The Nut Tree history is integral to the California food movement, and Alice Waters has praised the Nut Tree for being important in the creation of California Cuisine. It started as a fruit stand, and eventually became a stopping point for dignitaries, travelers, and locals alike who were looking for good, fresh food and innovative cuisine.

Visitors to the Farm Shop will find Capay Valley produce, seasonally prepared foods including salads and sandwiches, and gift items such as lavender products, honey, and jam. Over the course of a year, the Farm Shop will feature products from 42 Capay Valley farms. Thomas Nelson, a co-owner of the shop, says that the Farm Shop is modeled after the farm shop concept in England, where it is common to have shops convenient for customers with carefully selected local produce and other items.

I visited the Farm Shop several weeks ago, and was excited to have a brick-and-mortar location to pick up some of my favorite Capay Valley items including dried wheat berries from Full Belly Farm, fresh figs, and potatoes. This location is a quick and convenient stop-off for produce, cheese, crackers, wine and sandwiches on any trips east of San Francisco.

For more information:
SF Chronicle, Nut Tree Nostalgia, Feb 25 2005.
Capay Valley Farm Shop, Participating Farmers
Capay Valley Grown Project

In 2005, Garrison Keillor, that curmudegon of a Minnesotan, wrote a column in <a href="http://dir.salon.com/story/opinion/feature/2005/09/28/keillor_work/index.html
">Salon stating:

"Today, home canning has gone the way of the typewriter, the vacuum tube and the TV variety show. The Ball company sold off its jar division and now makes satellite sensors or something, and groceries stock fresh tomatoes all winter, imported from Mexico, which cost a buck apiece and taste more like tennis balls than tomatoes. But at least you don't have to stand in a steamy kitchen and ruin your hairdo."

How great is it that locavores everywhere are proving him wrong this month? As Jen Maiser mentioned late last month, this year's September Eat Local Challenge is focussed on "canning, preserving, and putting food up for the winter." As the blogs I frequent roll up on my Google reader, I can see that several Bay Area Bloggers have risen to the challenge.

Sam at Becks and Posh starts off her Eat Local Challenge canning project by first making me jealous that she invested in a pressure canner and then giving a hysterical list of "Don't"s for novice canners. As in:

" --Don't embark on a canning project unless you think you will get extreme satisfaction from a loud popping noise in your kitchen that almost sounds like someone has been shot but is, in fact, just indication that your lid has concaved, your vacuum has sealed, you can safely remove the screw band and that the operation was a complete success..."

and

"Don't install the disk of your food mill upside down. It is possible, but not recommended."

Hee. She also appears to be swearing, cursing, and using lots of bad words. But she doesn't recommend that either.

Elsewhere, Cookiecrumb at I'm Mad and I Eat who, rather than canning, has just pickled some serranos and jalapeños, and explains:

"I covered them with a boiling mixture of vinegar (local), salt (uh-uh), sugar (nope), cinnamon (as if) and cardamom (yeah, right). Water from Marin County. No idea if this mixture is chemically balanced for the hot water bath, but it's yummy just the same, and who cares. "

For my part this time around, I'm doing my passive (but LOCAL!) part by discovering and indulging in cold jars of certified organic sour dills from Happy Girl Kitchen. You can buy them as singletons at the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market and slurp on them as you do your shopping or, if you're a glutton like me, you can grab a whole jar and snack on them late at night while watching The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T and wondering if drinking pickle juice really does give you strange powers.

Kadota figs from Hamada Farm, San Francisco, August 2007

Eating locally, and teaching others about the importance of eating locally, is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. I am a founder of the Locavores (the group who originally invented the word "Locavore" in May 2005), and began the Eat Local Challenge site. The site is a place where bloggers and other Eat Local Challenge participants can write about their experiences with eating locally. I'm proud that we have authors from all corners of the nation, and are adding new authors to represent even more geographic areas.

While the Eat Local Challenge was born out of the Bay Area, it has moved across the country and has been adopted by thousands of people nationwide. I often feel like a proud aunt watching the movement gather more and more momentum and gain recognition in traditional media and among the general public.

Each year, we host a month-long challenge focused on eating locally. The challenge has changed months yearly, as we want to try eating locally in different parts of the calendar. In 2005, the challenge was in August. In 2006, May. And this year, the challenge is in September. Much of the focus of the Eat Local Challenge site during September will be on canning, preserving, and putting food up for the winter. I am excited about this because I have never canned anything at home in my life. Already, several of us are talking about getting together for a canning party so that I can learn from some masters.

There are many ways that you can get involved in this year's Eat Local Challenge. You can participate in the traditional, month-long challenge via the Locavores website, you can commit to buying food from the farmers' market each week during September, or you can host a local foods potluck with your friends. Anything that will help you focus on where your food is coming from is a step in the right direction.

Here are some links to get you started:

16 Ways to Participate in the September 2007 Challenge.
10 Reasons to Eat Local.
Local Harvest will help you find local foods as will The Eatwell Guide.
Finally, follow the Eat Local Challenge site throughout September to read about the progress of participants around the nation.

Alemany Farm tomatoes

It's been a busy time at my house this week. Between working full time and preparing for this year's Eat Local Challenge*, I haven't had much time to catch up on my favorite blogs. Perusing the sites this morning, I found several compelling posts from some of our Bay Area bloggers.

In the last couple of weeks, Chowhounds have been hunting for an elusive Korean catering truck that travels around SOMA and the Embarcadero during lunchtime. The Bunrabs have found it and reported on it. I think it might be worth tracking down! The photo of the charred chicken bowl that they posted has set my stomach grumbling.

When I went to Vancouver for the first time this past May, I had tried the Canadian snack called poutine. It's an artery-clogging dish and when it's made correctly it can be addictive -- french fries topped with a peppery brown gravy and cheese curds. Food Hoe reports that Salt House is serving a delicious rendition made with Vermont cheddar, short rib gravy, and fresh herbs.

I am not a baker. I rarely make desserts, and when I do they tend to lean toward the simple and minimalist. However, Dessert First's gorgeous desserts often tempt me into wanting to try something a little more fancy. I think at my next dinner party, I'll have to try my hand at her gorgeous Hazelnut Cake with Roasted Glazed Peaches. Wow.

Oh, and join me at the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market this Saturday at 10.30 am when I interview James Freeman from Blue Bottle Coffee Company. I'm doing it as a volunteer for CUESA's "Meet the Producer" program.

* Keep an eye on the Eat Local Challenge blog this week to find out how you can participate, or check this blog next Tuesday for a summary of the September challenge.

The nationwide group of authors who write for the Eat Local Challenge blog, along with many other Eat Local advocates around the country will be taking a unique challenge during one week in April: Can we eat local foods within the budget of an average American?

We invite you to participate in this challenge, dubbed the Penny-Wise Eat Local Challenge, either by taking up the challenge yourself, or by reading along on the Eat Local Challenge site at the end of this month.

As editor of the Eat Local Challenge site, the issue of budget and the cost of eating locally is the complaint that I have heard most often. So, beginning April 23, we are going to set out on a real-life experiment to see how much it actually costs to eat locally. I don't know what the results will be, but I am excited to find out.

What's the budget, you ask?

The Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics puts out some very detailed statistics about how much Americans spend on different parts of their budget. Part of that, obviously, focuses on food. The most recent data that they have published is from 2005, so we are going to use those dollar amounts for our challenge.

1 person in the family, one wage earner: $68 a week
2+ persons in the family, one wage earner: $121 a week
2+ persons in the family, 2 wage earners: $144 a week
2+ persons in the family, 3+ wage earners: $184 a week

I find the breakdown of how we divide that budget to be fascinating. Of the total 44% of the budget is spent on food away from home, and 56% of the budget is spent on food at home.

Of the 56% of the food budget spent at home, you can see the breakdown in the graph below. Given what's available locally in the San Francisco area, I would expect my budget graph during the Penny-Wise Eat Local Challenge to be skewed much less toward Cereals & Bakery Products and Other, and much more toward Fruits & Vegetables and Meats, Poultry and Eggs.

The Bay Area is the perfect place to try eating locally. While the rest of the country is really going to be struggling to eat local during this challenge, San Franciscans can look forward to seasonal produce such as fava beans, spring peas, more green garlic, spring greens, radishes, and the continuation of asparagus season. In the meat and protein area we will have spring lamb, local sardines, and possibly local halibut in addition to our local beef, chicken, and pork.

If you've never taken an Eat Local Challenge and find this one to be a bit daunting due to time of the year or the budget restrictions, you can participate in our September 2007 main challenge.

Links for more information:

The Penny-Wise Eat Local Challenge announcement.
Nuts and Bolts of participating in the challenge.
What We Spend on What We Eat.
Find what's in season in the Bay Area with the Local Foods Wheel.
Find what's local to your area with LocalHarvest.org.