Saturday, September 30, 2006

Farewell, old food


We spent Friday and Saturday eating up our food that will be forbidden starting Sunday. Stuff like the last frozen pizza, Hershey chocolate bars, orange juice, frozen shrimp. That's to make room in the fridge for our new food.

Saturday morning, we picked up fresh tomatoes, squash and meats at the farmers market in downtown Green Bay.

Then it was a road trip to Door County's Washington Island for wheat flour that we'll use to make bread and pancakes. Press-Gazette staffers reminded me that island farmer Tom Koyen sells his wheat to the Washington Hotel Restaurant and Culinary School. The manager was willing to sell me some. The newspaper had run a story about Koyen's surplus wheat being used by Capital Brewery for its Island Wheat beer.

The photo above is of Olya Glushanina, bread baker at the Washington Hotel, who's packing freshly milled Washington Island whole wheat for us.

On the ferry ride to the island, we talked with a group of retirees who were heading to Washington Island for a biking holiday. I explained to them we were on a mission to find edibles for a 100-mile diet. They seemed supportive, like it was a worthwhile stunt.

"No bananas then?" asked one.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

For 31 days, my family is eating local

Say goodbye to oranges, coffee, fast food and Doritos. Pass the corn, beans and squash.

On Sunday, Oct. 1, my family begins a challenge to eat only locally grown food for the month of October.

I’m not sure we know what we’re in for. Why would anyone do such a thing?

Buying local food supports the area economy, preserves farmland and keeps farmers in business. It also is meant to raise awareness that Wisconsin is blessed with bushels of healthy eating choices.

I look forward to sharing the experiences of my family during the month of October.