Go Localvore!
by Tim Stevenson

The vitality and growth of the local food movement is undeniable. Whether it’s Barbara Kingsolver’s bestselling, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle--anaccount of the year she and her family ate only local (9th on the New York Times non-fiction list, as of this writing, with 19 people on the reserve list at Brooks Memorial Library), or the 13 localvore groups (or “pods,” as they call themselves) that have organized in Vermont and New Hampshire over the past two years, the message is clear: eating local is important to a growing number of people.

This is due to the growing understanding of the multiple benefits from eating locally: Consuming safer, healthier, fresher food. Reducing our dependence on petroleum-based industrial agriculture. Helping us to become a more sustainable, self-sufficient community. Supporting local farmers to strengthen the local economy. Recapturing the kind of personal relationship with our daily sustenance that our grandparents took for granted.

The Windham Localvores is part of this movement. Begun a year ago as a project of Post Oil Solutions, the area localvore movement has evolved into its own entity with a Steering Committee that includes representation from the Brattleboro Food Co-op, Brattleboro Area Farmers’ Market, the Putney Food Co-op, POS Winter Farmers’ Market, Parent’s Express, and area educators, including those involved with the Farm-to-School program.

Following the example of the POS Localvore Challenges of last August, and this past January, the Windham Localvores is sponsoring a Localvore Harvest Challenge this coming September 21-29. Participants agree to eat only local food for a week (or a month…or more). In our case, local is defined as within a 100 mile radius of Brattleboro, and the state of Vermont.

Because our challenges are not meant to be hair-shirt exercises in political correctness, there are exceptions to this rule. We support people doing their own variation (e.g., one local meal a day, one local item per meal, etc.). There’s also the “Marco Polo Exception,” which allows people to add something to their meal that they’ve just got to have beyond the localvore parameters (e.g., salt, coffee, herbs).

One of the most popular features of last summer’s challenge was the Localvore Starter Kit. Yes, we will be selling these again at cost, and they will include a couple of Marco Polo exceptions: sea salt from Maine, and organic oats from just over the border in Canada. Other items in the Kit will include sunflower oil, corn meal, spelt flour, whole wheat bread flour, yellow eye beans, herbal teas, dried mushroms, tempeh, and cider vinegar, all organic, and housed in a  “Our Roots Are Local” canvas shopping bag. The Starter Kit can be ordered at the Windham Localvore table at the Farmers’ Market or Co-op, or by contacting Paula Melton, pjmeltonhoughton@yahoo,com, (802) 258-9082. A $20 deposit is required.

The Challenge will kick off with a Harvest Celebration Feast at Fair Winds Farm, Friday, September 21. The dinner will consist of local meats from Fair Winds, and vegetables supplied by Picadilly Farm (Winchester, NH), all put together by Riverside Café chef/owner, Tristan Toleno. There will be hayrides, a bonfire, and music by Dan MacArthur, Jason Breen and Jay Bailey. Tickets will be $16 adults, $8 kids, babes in arms free, and $2 discount for registered localvores. They will be sold at the Windham Localvore registration table, or by calling 254-7128 and 254-9067.

Another highly popular event from past challenges will be the nightly pot lucks, where people come with a local dish, share recipes, and enjoy both great company, and just about the best tasting food around!

A number of area restaurants have agreed to include local entrees on their menus during Localvore Week. These include Brattleboro Food Co-op Deli, Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Cafeteria, Capers Restaurant , Common Ground Restaurant, Common Loaf Bakery, Riverview Café, 39 Main, and Twilight Tea Lounge.

Finally, a new feature this year is the Children’s Localvore Challenge where students in area schools will--amongst other things--make their own contracts, and encourage school cafeteria services to serve as much local food during the Challenge Week as possible. To learn more, contact Julianne Eagan, Guilford Central School Health Action Committee parent member, (802) 257-5810.

The week will conclude with a pot luck celebration at the Kiwanis Shelter in Memorial Park, 12:00-2:00, on Saturday, September 29, featuring local musicians, and prizes for the localvore creature and logo contests.

Want to get involved? For further information contact info@postoilsolutions.org or (802) 869-2141.

Tim Stevenson is a community organizer with Post Oil Solutions.  The monthly Earth Matters column is sponsored by the Windham Environmental Coalition.

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