Conservation Fitness Program, Week 4: Locavore Week

I’ve become so familiar with eating lifestyles that sometimes I forget other people may not have heard of one before. Such may be the case with the Locavore diet.

Being a locavore means you eat locally, and thus seasonally. The first time I heard of someone being a locavore was in Barbara Kingsolver’s book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. At the time, I was amazed that someone could live completely off the land, with the seasons. I also scoffed at the idea, stating of COURSE Barbara Kingsolver could do it, she was under contractual agreement to finish. And how good of a book would it be if she failed at her experiment?

But when I suggested Animal, Vegetable, Miracle for a book club, I started thinking how I could incorporate it into my life. I signed up for a CSA (community supported agriculture) and got a delivery of farm fresh veggies every week. Noticing I wasn’t always getting everything I wanted in my produce box, I started visiting farmers markets. The variety of food available, especially in the summer, was remarkable.

These experiences inspired me to experiment with food and flavors. I remember the first time I got a spaghetti squash in my box, I had no idea what to do with it. Lucky for me, there’s the internet and I was quick to discover it’s a great substitute for high carb pasta. Now, Chris and I can’t wait for winter and fall and get our spaghetti squash fix.

And yes, I said WAIT for winter and fall. Spaghetti squash is a winter squash and grows best for winter harvest. Eating locally means eating seasonally, too. I try to eat foods which are available during the season. It tastes better, and I found it’s better for you as well.

When we eat for the season, we consume vitamins and minerals our bodies. Kale and other winter greens are packed with vitamin K and other nutrients. Carrots provide a great source of beta carotene. In the summer, berries are abundant. These tasty treats are delicious with any recipe. They’re low on the glycemic index, making them approved for just about ANY diet out there.

But there’s more than our health at stake when we eat local. We create a better impact on the environment, too.

Transportation makes up 11-17% of the carbon emissions around the world. The only single industry which is higher is the meat industry. Half of the transportation emissions comes from packing and sending food around the globe.

Eating local foods, products grown within our community, state, or region, means the cost and impact of the transportation goes down. We support local vendors, people in our community who need and appreciate our business. Not some corporate CEO looking to buy his third home. When you buy vegetables from a local farm, you are helping their children go to school, and helping your community gain access to delicious and nutritious food.

Local farmers are more environmentally conscious about how they produce their crops. They grow organic, clean food, even if it isn’t labeled or certified. The soil isn’t laden with pesticides, or chemicals. Animals raised on local farms live in humane, ethically sustainable conditions. If they are raised for meat, these are typically the animals which have one bad day in their entire life.

Eating and living local is a blessing. I enjoy food so much more now because I appreciate everything about it. The farmer who has worked the fields and harvested the crop. The season in which my food is grown. I appreciate the environmental aspect, the community aspect, and the taste.

I chose Locavore Week as our last week on this challenge because it’s I feel it’s the most all-encompassing. If you like the Paleo lifestyle, or the vegetarian diet, you can enhance your environmental and health benefits by practicing these diets in a locavore fashion. This week I show how to share the flavors of the season with each specialized eating plan by having a vegetarian, vegan, paleo, Keto, and Mediterranean day.

Think global, eat local. Practice perfect eating to create a more perfect world.

Today:

Breakfast: Vegan breakfast smoothie with pumpkin and coconut milk
Lunch: Apple Walnut salad with dried cherries and balsamic dressing

Dinner: Vegan Potato Leek Soup- this is an all time favorite of mine for winter months. It requires no milk or cream, but is still a very thick and creamy soup. I made this tonight in our crockpot, so it cut down a lot on the cooking time. My only complaint about my potato leek soup is it generally isn’t too pretty to look at. But it’s really good.

Potato Leek Soup   Serve 4- 279 calories, Carbs: 37g, Fat: 0.3g, Protein: 5g

Ingredients

• 2 lb potatoes, diced
• 2 medium sized leeks, sliced and rinsed well
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp parsley
• *optional: 3 cups broccoli florets, cooked

Directions

1. Bring 5 cups of water to a boil with potatoes. Add leeks after rinsing very well.  Lower heat to a simmer and continue cooking for 15 minutes or until potatoes become tender. Add pepper and salt.  Continue simmering for 5 minutes
2. Scoop half of potatoes and leeks into a blender or food processor.  Blend until smooth.
3. Remove excess water from remaining soup, approximately 2 cups, by sifting out the liquid and leaving leeks and potatoes.  Add blended mixture back to soup, stir well.

Workouts:
Veterans Day Hero WOD at CrossFit- Wade (1200 meters run, 4 rounds of pull-ups, dips, push-ups, then 1200 meter run)
ZooFit: EMOM (every minute on the minute) with Chris’ exercises- glute bridge, cobra push-ups, burpees, trunk rotation, single leg deadlift, crunches

Mood: I had a decent day, even if I didn’t get a lot of writing done. Toastmasters tonight which is always fun. Went to writing group. Got two workouts in. And this is the last week of the challenge. I’m going to measure myself at the end of the week and see if there’s any improvement.

Challenges: OMG, feeding my husband is like the most difficult task on the planet. I’ve fed whales, walruses, and elephants, and they don’t compete with the energy it takes to keep my man fed. I love him. But. That man can eat. I can’t decide if I am just not feeding him enough food, or if he eats more than the average person. This gets difficult to wage because if I’m honestly not feeding him enough, and we’re following the menu and meal plan, how do I fix that? Today, I was spot on with calories, but I also did two workouts. This is a constant struggle I’ve been working on all month. I hope I figure it out for the next trial and keep this poor starving man satiated.