Are You a Locavore?

Are you thinking...what? Or maybe you're familiar with this term, especially if you're a foodie like me! For those who are not yet familiar with this new word to the English language, which by-the-way some dictionaries may not yet include in their repertoire, read on and you may find out that you are, in fact, a locavore.

The word "locavore" was first introduced on the occasion of World Environment Day 2005 to describe and promote the practice of eating a diet consisting of food harvested from within an area most commonly bound by a 100 mile radius. The word was created by a group of people from the San Francisco area (what a surprise...huh) who also took it as their group's namesake.  (except fromThe Free Dictionary)

Seriously though, it is not just a crazy California thing. A few months back, I traded in United mileage points I couldn't use for a magazine subscription to Entrepreneur. A choice a little uncharacteristic for me but a good one. Entrepreneur author, Bruce Schoenfeld, did a piece entitled Foodie Inc. about what I will call locavorism and America's farm-to-table phenomena for the October issue of Entrepreneur.  He says that "the locavore movement began in earnest over a decade ago."  In the restaurant business it is referred to as "farm-to-table" - what was reported by the National Restaurant Association as the #1 and #2 top restaurant trends for 2011. 

Cleveland Food Bank Garden

Schoenfeld's story highlights the many benefits of locavorism from keeping the local consumer's food dollar in the local economy to providing fresher produce for the table and new jobs for one's community. It warmed my heart and put a smile on my face to read that in Cleveland since 2007 the city has been zoning "for community gardens" and subsidizing "farms in the abandoned city core". Schoenfeld reports that a farm stand adjacent to a low-income family housing unit makes fresh produce available to housing residents at 50% off regular prices. This is inspired city government at it's best folks! Especially when you know that Cleveland won the "junk food capital" award from Men's Fitness magazine in 2007.

In September of 2010, my partner, Jon and I visited Concord, Massachusetts on our way back from a family wedding in Maine. Before spending the day in Boston with clients, Jon dropped me at Walden Pond where I sat meditating by the water and writing in my journal near Thoreau's cabin. Later, I walked into the historic town of Concord and on the way I admired the most beautifully lush community gardens I'd ever seen. A restaurant owner told me the city keeps the land from private ownership specifically for this use.

Photo by Courtney Hergesheimer

There are many opportunities to practice locavorism! Perhaps you harvest from your own or a community garden or shop at a local farmer's market?  Many local farms now deliver through farm-share programs. Perhaps you purchase locally grown or raised food in your nearest supermarket or enjoy farm-to-table restaurant fare? It may not be practical to completely restrict your diet to local fare but anything you can do supports the access of seasonal, fresh produce in your area. 

A surprising statistic in Schoenfeld's article was that "the average metropolitan area in America still grows or raises less than 2% of the food it consumes". As we seek to improve air & water quality, boost our local and global economies, and support intelligent farming techniques such as non-GMO and organic approaches, in addition to providing food for those without--we must embrace the advantages of "thinking globally and acting locally" as much as possible. 

It reminds me of the wise advice from the air travel industry to remember to place the oxygen mask on yourself first and then help others if need be to do the same. A healthy individual can contribute much to a community and a healthy community can do much to contribute to the world. Perhaps one of the many gifts of our economic crisis in relationship to the food industry and agribusiness is that it encourages us to re-engage with our local community putting the healthy spirit of love and family back into our experience of food. 

There is enough bad news in the world, I prefer to focus on what is working, the "good news" of the day. This is what Love'n Every Bite is about fundamentally. Some of you have asked how we came up with the name. When this name came to Dawn and I, it meant two things to me. First, when three years ago faced with my need to avoid certain foods I decided to give up "the right to complain or feel deprived".  Instead, I focused on enjoying the long list of foods that I could eat and began to practice mindfully loving every bite I took of them. Secondly, as I began to prepare more meals at home I developed a practice of putting love into every dish by observing each and every ingredient for it's contributing features. I know it sounds odd but I sometimes talk to each ingredient telling it how wonderful its taste, texture, color, or fragrance is and with gratitude I appreciate each one in this way. Healing our relationship with food is all about changing our attitude.

Joanne's Facebook

As my new friend, cookbook author Joanne Neft, says "we are what we eat" and don't we all want to be vitalized by the food we eat. This is why I am a proponent of organics, non-GMO farming, and local farming support. Joanne & Laura's Real Food cookbook is about eating close to the earth, eating seasonally, and supporting your local farmers. This is what the locavore movement is all about in a nutshell. The next level above eating locally is using intelligent farming practices in how we grow that local food. This as I see it is the growing edge of the locavore movement.


Are you a locavore? What percentage of local food do you eat? I'd love to hear your thoughts, stories, information about good farming/restaurant practices in your area! Any farmers out there or restaurants with farm-to-table as their guiding principle? We want to hear from you...


If you are receiving this post by email, click the link "comment", scroll down the post and please share your comments about how you practice locavorism in your area: COMMENT


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For our local readers who are looking for upcoming locavore events in Placer County, here's two:


October 15, Saturday:  10-4 - Auburn Community Festival


November 18-20, Friday-Sunday - 18th Annual Mountain Mandarin Festival


Look for Dawn's post next week! 


Until then hope you are loving your food and feeding yourself with love...Deb


Read more in Wikipedia about the locavore movement.


Read more about small farming success in Entrepreneur.