100 Mile Diet

I just finished the book that started the movement of the 100 Mile Diet. The book is Plenty by James MacKinnon and Alisa Smith. These two live in Vancouver, BC, which is just about 100 miles north of Seattle, and true to their pledge, they spent exactly one year eating only foods from within a 100 miles radius of Vancouver. The farmer's market was a main source of local foods, and luckily seafood was close by, much like in Seattle. They gave up olive oil, lemons, pepper, and avocadoes. They even gave up wheat for 6 months until they found a farm on Vancouver Island that was growing it. They ate a lot of potatoes, local eggs, chicken, butter, and cheese. Vancouver has some great wines nearby, but they did have to give up beer, since barley and hops were foreign substances. They did a lot of canning which produced jam, tomatoes, and sauerkraut. The nice thing about the web site is that it will draw a 100 mile radius around your zip code. Unfortunately, it almost seems like the rest will be up to me. I don't know where to get local wheat, nuts, etc. And unfortunately, if I tried to start this strict diet now, it would pretty much be the wrong season. I'm not prepared for winter! Nevertheless, it was a good read (if you can ignore the relationship gobbeldy gook they include) and got me thinking of the ways I can better eat locally. Now I have to learn to give up Tader Joe's!