The Eat Local Challenge - Summer 2008 The Mad River Valley Localvore Project is pleased to announce our Summer 2008 Eat Local Challenge. The challenge will be held September 14 to 20, 2008. The Eat Local Challenge is an event where participants pledge to eat only locally grown and produced foods.  Participants will have the option of choosing to pledge by the meal (one or more meals), by the day (one or more days), or for the entire week. What Is the Mad River Valley Eat Local Challenge? Just the Facts When:  September 14 to 20, 2008 What:  Eat locally grown and produced foods for a meal, a day, or for the entire week - you decide what is a challenge for you.  Exceptions:  Marco Polo Rules apply (salt and spices that sailors could carry in their pockets for 6 months while at sea) Wild Cards:  Choose from 0 to 5 wilds cards for foods that you will eat during the challenge that are not local. Registration for the Challenge is now OPEN!  Click here to take challenge Support During the Challenge Week Host a potluck and invite friends to each bring a local dish. Check out our extensive recipe database and add your own local recipes. Find out where to find local products in the Mad River Valley Attend our events scheduled throughout the week Get off to a GREAT START!!  Come join us at the Lareau Farm Pavilion on Sunday, September 14th from 5 to 8 to kick off the Eat Local Challenge.    We will have delicious local BBQ chicken from Michael's Good to Go, music by the traditional/bluegrass duo Knotty Pine, Vermont Ice Cream Company Ice Cream, a Local foods raffle, and a spectacular potluck buffet!  This event is FREE, but we ask you to please bring an all local salad, side, or dessert for our spectacular potluck buffet and a local food item for our raffle (this could be a canned good that you have made, a hard to get local ingredient like popping corn, or something you have made like an all local zucchini cake).

How far is a 100-mile radius?

From the heart of the Mad River Valley, the 100-mile radius stretches as far north as Montreal, as far south as the Massachusetts border, west into the Adirondacks, and east covering most of New Hampshire. If you want to map YOUR OWN 100-mile radius, you can enter your zip code into the site at: http://100milediet.org/map/

What about Value Added Products? I know the address on the package says Vermont, but how do I know where the food actually comes from?

Good question! One idea is to contact the manufacturer and ask them directly. Just because food is processed in Vermont doesn't necessarily mean any of the ingredients were grown here.

Is eating locally more expensive?

Not necessarily. Most of us pay a big premium for out-of-season foods like cherries in winter or prepared foods like spaghetti sauce, usually with a long list of ingredients we might prefer not to have in our bodies. Eating locally, we can buy fresh ingredients in season and direct from the farmer–without paying for the embedded costs of trucking the produce across the country. Most people eating a typical diet could save money by eating locally.

Will it take a lot of time?

It does take time to find local food sources, to make food from scratch, to do canning for winter, and so on. But part of our goal as Localvores is to share resources and tips so that we don't have to do all the work by ourselves.

How do you monitor if people are sticking with the pledge?

We don't. It is strictly on the honor system. However, if you are not able to stick to your pledge, it would be really good to know why. This information could be helpful to others who take the pledge in the future.

Will it take a lot of time?

Because you are deciding what you want to pledge to do, you will determine how much time it will take to fulfill your pledge.  If you pledge to grow and preserve all of your own food, obviously it is going to take quite a time commitment.  On the other hand, we are lucky in the Mad River Valley to have stores and restaurants committed to local food - everyday it is getting easier to be a Localvore! 

• Check out our recipe database for great ideas on how to prepare local food.