Eating Local for Lazies... like Moi!

This post will be the first in this fantastic event hosted by 'Food Renegade' (wow that sounds so cool! I want to be one!) called Fight Back Fridays! I am all about being a Food Renegade and helping each other learn, grow and live healthy, one GMO free egg at a time.

The fiancé and I have been trying to fit local sustainable food into our budget since we lived in BC. Vernon didn't have a Saturday morning farmer's market (I KNOW, crazy eh?) so our goal when we moved to Halifax was take advantage of such an amazing source of local foods. We made it about, ummm, 4 times in seven months. We are lame. Really, I have the weirdest sleep needs (ten hours minimum) which I never get throughout the week and then crash on the weekend. Also: we are strange and both abhor crowds, which the farmer's market is PACKED into that beautiful, historic brewery.

For years now I have been interested in food baskets from local co-ops in all the cities I've lived. The problem is that I'm a HUGE picky eater, I mean bordering on annoying. This stems from digestive issues that have plagued me since my infancy. So it has actually taken years for me to be more open to trying new veggies and fruits, which I now am! YAY.

Halifax has an organization that offers the food box delivery service. "Home Grown Organics" is a locally owned business located in Halifax that delivers weekly, bi-weekly or monthly boxes of produce right to your door! They also use minimal warehouse storage space, striving to deliver the majority of their produce straight from the farmer to your home! They purchase produce from local farmers and as often as possible find organically grown produce first. The absolute kicker for me; you can actually list your favs and hates and they will do their absolute best to never give you your hates! Well, this means I never have to worry about figuring out who to give that ugly, gross tomato too! All for 30$ every two weeks, which is fantastic since we spend way more than 15$ a week on produce.

This Saturday the fiancé and I have taken a deep breath and made the order. We even paid full membership fee (one time 25$ fee) even though we didn't have to for our first order. No backing out. We ARE going to eat eggplant, zucchini and even... GASP... kale. We are going to figure out how to cook them into yummy delicious meals or meals that look yummy and eventually will also taste this way- after some experimentation of course. I was informed that each little rubbermade box (that we clean out and give back at the next delivery- less waste!) comes some fun new recipe print outs!

If you don't live in Halifax, but are interested in this "food box" dealy, check around! The four cities that I have lived in across Canada all had them (even Montreal!) it's just a matter of finding them and deciding if their practice fits your lifestyle :) Also, closely investigate the company that your selecting making sure they truly do purchase from local sustainable farmers and practice sustainable business (i.e. how far do they consider "local" and what do they consider "organic"?).

As spring approaches we'll still be going to the farmer's market when I wake up early enough to find local fun new foods and we may even cancel a few food boxes (which is totally easy and not a problem) but now we can feel good about where our produce came from! A first step in becoming Food Renegade Yogis!