Eat Local: It just keeps comin'

First came Eve. Then came me, buying a red bell pepper from Mexico (gasp!) Is it just a coincidence that this shiny pepper looks so much like an apple? But I needed roasted red pepper for my pimiento cheese (made with local cheddar and cream cheese!) so I decided to beg the Eat Local goddess's forgiveness.

But otherwise, I am pretty sin-free, having spent an hour at the farmer's market buying up all kinds of goodies including monstrous 1-pound lemons. (That's 1 pound per lemon, folks.) I was skeptical but they juice up something fierce. I also found (drumroll, please) fresh wild local salmon. You can't beat that with a stick!

This morning's homemade scone prevents me from achieving a perfect score for the day, but since I slathered it in local butter and marmalade I'm not too concerned. I figure I don't owe anybody any hail Mary's.

Oh yeah, for anyone local, I found a great alternative to Parmesan cheese -- Spring Hill Jersey's Old World Portugese-style cheese. It's a bit softer but the flavor is a good match.

Day 6 Eat Local estimated tally: 90%

Comments

[cookiecrumb]

Guess what: We found fresh red bell peppers at the Marin Market; can't tell you the name of the farm, but it's in Winters.
Also, I like Spring Hill Dry Jack for grating; might even be a little cheaper (but that Portuguese-style one sure tastes good).
Carry on!

[Nerissa]

Well... it's closer to you than if I was to get it. And we have had food travel that far up here. From Chile even!

[bill]

Catherine, your grocery tally is shocking. What you have spent for six days of eating local could feed a family of six for at least a week.
Actually at work, in the your Safeway down the street, I see mothers struggling to feed their families on about half that a week.
Maybe we shouldn't eat local, but instead feed local
I like to splurge on a nice meal every once in awhile too, but I couldn't sustain that budget for a month just to say I'm supporting my local growers.
Are you putting those farmers kids through Stanford?

[Catherine]

Bill -- there's no denying that the Ferry Plaza market charges a premium. However, it may not be as bad as it seems. For exampmle, I spent a fair amount the first week on staples like olive oil. I also bought some wine to stick in the cellar just to have on hand and a $20 box of chocolate caramels that I had to have. Some things are really expensive: free-range, grassfed beef costs more than regular factory fed beef but in my mind it's worth it 10x over to eat healthier beef that's better for the body & the environment. I've also fed several several groups of people at small dinner parties, made a few dishes and frozen them for later and given some of the fresh produce to friends (it's more than we can eat). Plus there's still loads of stuff in my fridge, so it probably will take us through another week or so.