Yes!
I have officially completed the Dark Days Challenge, an eat-local challenge by Laura McCrae, who lives on a hobby farm west of Smokey Point and writes the widely read Urbanhennery.com blog.
McCrae’s third-annual eat-local challenge drew a record 90 households from across the country in its first weeks. Just 30, mine included, made it the whole 20 weeks.
Her challenge was two-fold: Prepare one SOLE meal a week Nov. 15 through March 31 and blog about it. SOLE stands for sustainable, organic, local and ethically raised.
For me, local was No. 1.
I defined local as grown or raised in Washington, but with a preference for Western Washington farms.
Organic, sustainable and ethical often tend to go along with local food. But I avoided products from large-scale meat-producing operations, which I associate with ecological — if not ethical — drawbacks.
I am happy to report that the challenge was eye-opening and a true culinary adventure.
I wrote about my Dark Days experiences on work time. But I cooked on my own time and bought food with my own money.
I discovered so much, including the joy of French onion soup with homemade beef stock (laborious and expensive but worth it), slow cooker pot roast (fun and flavorful), spiced parsnip soup (nutritious and freezable), cobbler (quick and easy) and artisan bread made in a Dutch oven.
Two women called me, both of them longtime bread makers, to say they would never make any other bread again because of the bread’s low-maintenance preparation, flavor, texture and just plain beauty.
Both their husbands were cheering in the background in between bites of buttered bread.
I would not have found that recipe if I hadn’t been looking for a way to use the local flour I found at the Ballard farmers market or if a fellow challenger hadn’t recommended it.
Though I could easily write a book on my experiences, here is some of what I learned.
Farmers markets: There is no better source for finding local food than a farmers market, especially year-round markets like those in Ballard and the U District. They aren’t convenient.
You have only a matter of hours to get down to Seattle and shop and you can’t get your toilet paper, cat food or soy sauce in the same stop.
But, wow, once you settle in, relax and listen to the street musicians, you’ll find enough local food to make many a meal, including dessert, even in winter.
Watch the Wednesday Good Life section and my blog at www.heraldnet.com/ecogeek for a list of seasonal Snohomish County markets.
Fresh eggs: If there is one product you are going to buy local year-around, make it eggs, available at most farmers markets and at the Sno-Isle Food Co-op in Everett.
Both my husband and I were delighted at the epiphany that is a good, fresh, local egg.
Pastured local egg yolks stand up like soldiers, noticeably higher. They’re orange, not yellow.
Once you’ve conquered eggs, I recommend local milk, butter and cheese. Local dairies produce great stuff and they need our business.
Cheap meat myth: Throughout the challenge, I didn’t address the issue of how much it costs to eat local. (That’s another book.)
But I did make two major conclusions: Local food didn’t seem much more expensive to me, especially when compared to organic prices at grocery stores.
Some items were cheaper and many tasted better, especially the Brussels sprouts.
When it came to meat, however, I found a huge difference.
Meat sold at major grocery stores is surprisingly inexpensive.
You can get an entire turkey for free at Thanksgiving if you buy enough other groceries and use a coupon.
If you buy a Thanksgiving turkey from a local farmer, however, you can expect to pay about $5 a pound, or $100 for a 20-pound turkey.
Some people would argue that such pricing is shocking and downright unsustainable.
And, in a way, I agree.
But shouldn’t the cheap prices be just as shocking?
In her new book, “The Butcher and the Vegetarian,” Tara Austen Weaver suggests as much: “It takes 12,000 gallons (of water) to raise a pound of beef and only 60 gallons to raise a pound of potatoes.”
That 12,000-gallon figure comes from a 1997 Cornell University study and applies only to the water used to raise the grain to feed the animal.
Should the meat ever be cheap, much less free?
Local food advocates say the solution is easy: Eat less meat, better meat, local meat at prices that reflect the true cost of sustainability.
Don’t worry: None of the local farmers are getting rich.
Going whole hog: This is not to say that the participants of the Dark Days Challenge are wealthy. In fact, McCrae, the founder of the challenge, is a self-described cheapie.
She gets deals on local meat, including beef and pork, by buying in bulk directly from farmers. She raises and butchers her own chickens and tends egg-laying hens in addition to her full-time Snohomish County PUD job.
She, like many of the hard-core Dark Daysers I met, also grows and preserves much of her own food to save money.
It’s much easier to eat local if you have green beans and strawberries stashed in the freezer from last summer’s garden and a root cellar full of potatoes and onions.
But we all can’t produce that much food.
That means going directly to farmers or markets, where we pay cash instead of time and labor at home.
If you look at it that way, eating local often costs more.
But I think it’s worth it. In fact, I think that’s the whole point.
Tomato-free cooking: Here’s my No. 1 tip for next year’s Dark Daysers: Can or freeze some local tomatoes this summer.
Tomatoes were the ingredient I missed the most during this challenge. All my go-to winter dishes (chilis, stews, crockpot dishes) contain ketchup, tomato paste, sauce or diced tomatoes.
Not having them, however, forced me out of my comfort zone to discover a wide array of new dishes.
That’s thanks in part to features editor Melanie Munk, who came up with most of my meal ideas, along with my helpful Dark Days cohorts, who inspired me with their recipes, dedication to home cooking and deep appreciation for farmers.
Thanks to all of them and to you for following my journey into eating local.
You can find all 20 of my Dark Days recipes at www.heraldnet.com/ecogeek.
If you’re looking for a locally grown or raised food, write to me at sjackson@heraldnet.com. I might be able to help.
Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/ecogeektweets.
Find Dark Days recipes from participants around the country at urbanhennery.com.
Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037, sjackson@heraldnet.com.
Check out all 20 of Sarah Jackson’s Dark Days recipes and the story of how her eat-local adventure began.
For the past three years, Laura McCrae has encouraged locavores across the country to eat local in fall and winter, during the year’s darkest days. Click here to find out why.
Click here to find out why Sarah Jackson, the Eco Geek, took the challenge and read on for stories and reicpes. Week 1: Potato and Bacon Soup
Week 2: Coho Salmon with Dill and Garlic
Week 3: Squash Curry Puree Soup
Week 4: Oven-Baked Goat Sausage and Cabbage
Week 5: Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Week 6: Whole Wheat Pancakes and Oven-Fried Bacon
Week 7: Braised Short Ribs with Apples
Week 8: Savory Bread Pudding with Squash and Sausage
Week 9: Easy Apple Crisp
Week 10: French Onion Soup with Homemade Beef Bone Stock
Week 11: Super-Rich Scalloped Potatoes
Week 12: Country-Style BBQ Ribs
Week 13: Super-Moist Meatloaf
Week 14: Cheese Souffle
Week 15: Roast Local Chicken
Week 16: Parsnip Puree Soup
Week 17: Almost No-Knead Whole Wheat Bread
Week 18: Easy Frozen-Strawberry Cobbler
Week 19: Collards with Black Beans and Sausage
Week 20: Spring Salad with Optional Dungeness Crab
Lessons learned: What an adventure! Read all about it.
Watch this blog for a regularly updated list of local farmers markets or see www.pugetsoundfresh.org or www.localharvest.org to find markets, CSAs and local-food grocers in your area.
Follow Sarah Jackson, the Eco Geek, on Twitter at twitter.com/ecogeektweets.
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