We haven’t entirely stuck to our menu plan, but our Eat Local challenge is still chugging along.
One thing I do wish I could figure out is where to draw the line on restaurants. For example, I know Arby’s (where my husband lunched on Friday – tsk!) is out, but what about the place I got my bahn mi on Wednesday or my breakfast taco on Friday? Does “eat local” extend to local restaurants, regardless of where their ingredients might be coming from? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.
I’m keeping track of all the local products I’m eating this month. It’s cool to see where my money is actually going. I haven’t figured out what my “range” is, as you might notice when looking at the list of companies.
Week 1 Companies
Brianna’s Salad Dressing
Johnson’s Backyard Garden
Simmons Farm
Yonder Way Farm
Way Back When Dairy
Full Quiver Farms
El Milagro
Austin Spice Company
Lucky Layla
Sweetish Hill
Retro Bizzaro
Texas Olive Ranch
G & S Groves
Kocurek Charcuterie
Gelato’s
Kohana Coffee
Katz Coffee
Richardson Farms
Hillside Farms
White Mountain
Jake’s Granola
Elevation Artisanal
Vital Farms
Restaurants
Baguette House
Taco Shack
Promise Pizza
Peche
Frank
To put all of this in perspective, check out Month Without Monsanto. My challenge is a piece of cake compared to April’s.
Hope I can stick with this week’s meal plan, but the schedule is already busy due to SXSW events. I don’t have a pass but I’m attending some other things planned along with it!
Monday
Breakfast: Leftovers from Frank brunch
Lunch: Chicken, brussels sprouts
Dinner: Daring Cook’s challenge
Tuesday
Breakfast: Jake’s granola
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Venison sausage & kale
Wednesday
Breakfast: Eggs
Lunch: Chicken salad
Dinner: Vegetable stirfry
Thursday
Breakfast: Jake’s granola
Lunch: Leftover stirfry
Dinner: Quiche (prepped the night before as I might be attending the Big Ass Twitter Happy Hour)
Friday:
Breakfast: Breakfast tacos
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Pizza
Saturday
Breakfast: Austin Farmer’s market
The rest of the day I’ll be at TECHmunch Austin, a one-day food blogging conference being led by Babette of Bakespace and Jaden of Steamy Kitchen. I’m looking forward to meeting a lot of great people and learning a lot. I hope I can keep up with my note taking!
Sunday
Breakfast: Baked oatmeal
Lunch: HOPE market, probably
Dinner: Short ribs
Are you eating local? How’s it going?
Great plan! I struggle with the same thing in defining “local”. I think supporting local small businesses is an important part of the big picture – know your restauranteur! And with a small restaurant, maybe you can chat up the owner/chef and find out where food is sourced!
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I can’t believe how many companies are local! Very cool.
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Hmm … I don’t think eat local includes local restaurants regardless of where they get their raw materials from. I think it means if you eat at local rest. then they get their food locally, kind of thing. I don’t know if its even possible to eat local here. The farmer’s market last week had two items for sale: Elk meat and something else, I think it had something to do with something you can hang on a hanger. I only briefly glanced at the sign as we drove past, headed for the grocery store. Even the potatoe guy who sells potatoes out of his minivan is gone. He’s not really local (from alberta), but it was better than getting things from another country. In the summer and fall I can believe its possible. But headed into winter I had 25 jars each of wax beans, tomatoes, carrots, and a tonne of frozen raspberries but thats about it. The snow is just starting to melt here right now; how could we ever dine local is a mystery to me. Maybe I just need a wider variety of canned goods. ?? Who knows. Good luck to you; I envy your climate.
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Hmm I left a comment but it doesn’t seem to have worked. Good luck with the eating local thing. I wish I could do it here.
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Megan Reply:
March 31st, 2010 at 7:40 am
Comments are moderated, so they don’t show up right away unless I’ve previously approved you
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