Day 7

For the last day of my eat local challenge, I pretty much gave up. This mostly happened because I went to a memorial for a girl I knew in high school. It was a potluck-style memorial, so there was so much food and I was hungry! That isn't really the kind of situation where you ask people where they bought their food from......

I didn't even bother to take pictures that day, so sorry for the emptiness of this post.

Since this is the last day, I will sum up what I learned, how I felt, etc.

I think that I like the ideals of eating local more than the act of doing it everyday. It would be pretty hard to completely stick to this kind of diet for a long period of time-rather than just 7 days. Here are some thoughts:

• I am a college student with a part-time job living alone; paying for all of these local products is not reasonable for me.
• It is also not convenient to shop only at a farmers market for produce, meat, and dairy products. At this point in my life, living near a market and natural grocery stores (Whole Foods and PCC), it works, but not every city has the opportunities to eat locally that Seattle does. Where I grew up, Camano Island, there is not a farmers market like any in Seattle. I would have to make a long drive from my house to find one, when I might as well buy from the random fruit stands selling berries on the roadside.
• In my home community, there is a QFC (Stanwood, WA). Surprisingly, they are marketing local produce just like the stores in Seattle do. I believe that this is a recent thing, because I worked there three years ago, and I don't remember that happening back then.
• In my opinion, the important aspect of the Eat Local Challenge should be the ethics involved with how the food is produced, rather than the exact miles of where it comes from. Just because something is made in your city, is it sustainably and organically produced?

If you want more information about eating local:

Eat Local on Twitter:  http://search.twitter.com/search?q=eatlocal
Facebook group for Eat Local Challenge
Eat Local Challenge website

• Whole Foods to Grow its Own Produce (food.change.org)
• "Hungry Girl" Encourages Dieting A La Cool Whip Lite (womensrights.change.org)
• 15 Ways to Save Money Buying Natural Foods (mint.com)
• Local Dirt Helps You Buy and Eat Local Food (appscout.com)
• What is a locavore? (greenanswers.com)
• Food For Thought (newamericanvillage.blogspot.com)
• Local-Food Movement: The Lure of the 100-Mile Diet (time.com)
• Whole Foods vs. Trader Joe's