ruminations

Here I sit, eating my recently adopted breakfast, and contemplating the utter insanity of what I am about to subject us to.

Are we ready to eat local? Can we get food? Will we go batshit insane?

I already get meat and eggs, butter and cheese. That's fine. But flour? Oatmeal? I just ate the last packet of “fine imported Irish” junk food with extra sugar, and I liked it. No more? What's the big guy going to do to me if he doesn't get his wheatabix?

So. The rules.

Most locavores are going for 100 miles. I'm not. I'm going to go by “1 middleman or On my way”. Fair Trade will fill in some gaps.

If I know the middleman and s/he knows the grower, it's in.

If I pass it on my way to someplace I am already going, it's in.

No out of my way trips or special trips, but if I am headed out of the area, anything local on the way is in. If a friend is coming this way and can get it cleanly in their area, it is in as well. My maple syrup might come from Massachusetts, but the farmer is someone I see a couple of times a year. I think that's reasonable.

Spices are exempt. Those have been imported for over a thousand years, they have a special place in life. I'm not going to forgo them. I doubt we will run out any time soon, but eventually, I will have to buy something. Saffron is most likely first to run out, nutmeg soon after.

Coffee is exempt for sanity's sake. I know that that's the one which would break us, so I'm not going to be a pain about it. We need to be able to do this for the long haul. Coffee made at home from fair-trade beans somehow bothers me less than grownup shakes for $6.

Anything already in the pantry; Im not going to let something go bad just because it isnt suitable for the project. I'm not trying to do a 1 month trick here, I'm trying to eat real food. We won't replace things, but we sure will use what we have. Splenda is in, but not for long!

The rules are fluid. I'm not trying to prove anything to anyone, I'm trying to feed myself and the Big Guy while not going insane, and find local-ish sources for high quality, non corporate foods at the same time.

Things I know I'm going to miss a lot;

Water. I need to set up a water still that works off of something that's already using heat. No more bottles. No way to use the tap safely. This one is the challenge. I might go insane and build a largescale solar still, but that's hard to wrap my head around right now.

Flavors for water. I like my iced tea packets, but boy are they wasteful. I also like lemon. Those are guaranteed over 100 miles.

Wondra. I love this stuff. It's a sure thing for a nice gravy or crust. We only have ¼ can left. I'll figure something out.

Sugar. Yeah, I know. But honey doesnt work well in everything, and one of my regular cooking-victims is allergic to it.

Oils. Historically, lard was the answer. Kill a hog once a year for it's fat, and be careful with it. That bacon can meant something in past days. It's not happening in this house. We still have a little olive oil left. I'll likely purchase some from a local family importer, fair trade has to have some room in our lives. It's a luxury item, yes, butter would often do well, but better family farm someplace far away than bulk factory supply.

Nuts. We eat a lot of pecans, almonds, peanuts and cashews. How sad.. Butternuts and walnuts are common trees, but the nuts are very hard to get in this area. Black walnuts can be $20 a pound!

The list is already depressing, so I'm stopping here for now.