Shannon Hilchie

Day two of the project. So far, so good.

Jack and I had dinner last night, and we discussed my new idea. He had lots of questions about it, and together we hashed out the rules and the definition of this new word.

So, in the strictest sense, a localtarian could be someone that eats ONLY local food. However, much like vegetarianism, there are tiers of strictness that one can follow. If I was going to be a strict localtaian, I would eat nothing that came from outside Nova Scotia. This raises some issue as we cannot produce certain foods here due to climate, etc. If I was to become a strict localtarian then I would never be able to eat a banana, or an olive, or use olive oil, or have certain cheeses.

While some people are more than willing to go that far, and I applaud them for their choice, I cannot. While I wish I could get everything local to reduce packing, shipping, etc, I realize that this is impossible. Right now, I would say 90% of my food shopping IS local, and good for me. But if there is a wonderful olive grove in say, I dunno, Italy, that is earth friendly and doing their part, then I have little problem supporting them the same way I would a farm down the street from me. It’s not their fault we can’t make it here and they have to ship it.

Jack also wanted to know how the rules change if I’m traveling. Yes, they would. Then I will try to eat food local to wherever I am. If I can’t get ANYTHING, then I will have to make due.

Last night was my first time at a restaurant since decided this plan, and I was pleased at how much I could still eat from the menu. I had a meatless pizza (not a shock, I do that anyway), but now I could not have a bite of Jack pizza, which had prosciutto.

Which, now that I think about it, maybe I could have had a bite of. Is NS able to make prosciutto? I must research.

Basically, this means I can never eat fast food again. Well, anything meat related from them anyway. Which sucks because OMIGAWD I WILL MISS YOU WENDYS, but on the other hand, hello Health town. Also, I can always go to the rad North Diner in Bedford which has local cheeseburger, right down to the bun. Thank GOD for them!

I’m lucky to live in Nova Scotia. We have a ton of local food organizations here, as well as lots of Chefs who cook local and local only. And we have access to seafood, thank God. Though I may need to have different rules for seafood…

Oh, and I’m trying to figure out where I can GET local poutine, Matt. Technically, the gravy would need to be from local beef. Or from a bullion cube, I suppose.

I’m going to start photographing my food (YAY!) but for now, here’s a breakdown of what I’ve been eating and where it came from:

Breakfast: Glass of C Boost from Boathouse farms (Not local, but a worthy company to support), one slice of whole wheat bread (local), spread with peanut butter and jam (both local)

Work meals: Sandwich made of the aforementioned bread, PB, and Jam, homemade Risotto, apple (local), grapes.