Chelsey enjoyed a picnic with Santa Barbara chardonnay and a salad made with local ingredients.

Editor’s note:  Long before the word locavore existed, I took a road trip through Colorado. Afterward a friend and I were talking (probably over a glass of imported wine) about how gnarly it is to drive on winding, narrow mountain highways alongside 18-wheelers.  “I would happily give up eating imported foods if those big trucks would stay off the roads!” I declared.  “Wow,” said my friend.  “That’s a really bold statement.”  I had no idea just how bold (and how improbable) it was until this week!

In the spirit of keeping it local and making every day an adventure, we decided to try our own week-long Locavore Challenge.  Meaning a handful of Toads agreed to eat nothing but foods grown and produced within 100 miles of Santa Barbara.  Or at least try.

Since we pretty much live in a breadbasket of culinary goodness, we figured we had the situation locked down.  After all, getting our hands on local wine is no problem.  And  right up the street there’s even an awesome farm called Goodland Organics that grows and roasts its own, truly delicious coffee! Not to mention the amazing folks at the Solvang Pie Company who grow their own wheat and make things like bread, pasta and, of course, pie.

Despite these advantages, locavore week has been a mixed bag.  On the plus side, the strictly organic meals we’ve prepared taste better than pretty much anything we’ve ever had.  On the other hand, eating this way is wildly expensive and incredibly time consuming and our palates have gotten very globalized over the years.  We must report, in all candor, that many of us have fallen off the locavore wagon in one way or another this week.

Overall we’re super stoked we made the attempt.  The week has been like holding a magnifying glass to our eating habits.  Even though we’re a group of relatively health-conscious Californians, we rely big time on non-local food products.  From our (organic) crackers to our (gluten-free) loaves of bread to our morning yoghurt and (super-food) granola, to our afternoon (fair-trade) chocolate fixes, our eating habits have a pretty substantial carbon footprint.

Here are our locavore confessions: the good, the bad and the ugly.

Amy sampling the goods at the Portland farmer’s market.

Amy (who lives in Portland, making her equally equipped for the life of a locavore)
Best locavore discovery:  Lemon cukes – so yummy and pretty!
Most blatant locavore cheat moment:  Spaghetti night… but I did make some sautéed zucchini to go with it. (Again with the olive oil though!)
Accidental locavore cheat moment: Cooking with olive oil.
Locavore week takeaway:  It’s hard! But so delicious. And there are a lot of resources in Portland, it’s just a matter of taking advantage of them.
Anything else to declare/confess?: I lost some weight!

When you go local in Santa Barbara, avocados become a big part of your diet!

Chelsey
Best locavore discovery: Macaroons from the almond sellers.
Most blatant locavore cheat moment: Every morning I had non-local cereal for breakfast. The habit was too strong!
Accidental locavore cheat moment: Proudly buying a bunch of salmon from the harbor fish market, remembering later that salmon is not local.
Locavore week takeaway:  If I were to make this a permanent lifestyle, I would really have to grow my own grains like rice and oats, and lots more of my own veggies. Not to mention, I would have to spend most of my free time planning/shopping for/making my food.
Anything else to declare/confess?: Even though being a locavore has been way too expensive for me (considering I don’t grow any of my own fruits and vegetables), it’s a great way to be healthy. It also opened my eyes a lot to how far my food travels— I am amazed at how exotic my usual cupboard is. I’ll never look at grocery shopping the same way again and plan to try harder to buy local foods from now on.

Kelly enjoyed plenty of cheese from this this Santa Barbara creamery.

Kelly:
Best locavore discovery: Local can be delicious!
Most blatant locavore cheat moment: I had a banana for breakfast.  It was an emergency, as it was the morning the office was going paddle boarding.
Accidental locavore cheat moment: Worcestershire sauce (part of my beef stew recipe).
Locavore week takeaway: It’s a fun exercise to get closer to our food supply chain and a good reminder to be thoughtful about how you source your food. But unfortunately modern society is not set up particularly well (and we are not conditioned particularly well!) for consuming strictly local products; the endeavor is a bit cumbersome and costly.

This week has definitely left our wallets (and our waistlines!) a bit lighter.  We’re super thankful for the delicious chance to take a better look at our eating habits, though.  Stay tuned to our blog for Toad Locavore recipes and more confessions.