I'm trying to eat more sustainably, choosing "pastured" meats and dairy, free-range eggs, and local, organic produce from small farms; I'm also trying to virtually eliminate processed foods from my family's diet. I have three small boys and a husband who grew up on Fruit Loops and KFC. I live in the city (Portland, Oregon); I work full-time; and I'm learning to garden. This is my story.I don't think I have an addictive personality, but it's true: I'm addicted to caffeine. Not only am I an addict, I'm something of a snob, pooh-poohing Starbucks and supermarket brands for single-estate coffee beans and PG Tips tea. It's ok: as luxuries go, my choices aren't terribly draining on family finances. At about $10 a 12-ounce bag, my coffee habit runs me less than $20 a week.
But. I'm trying to eat local, honoring as much of the spirit of the 100-mile diet and the locavores as I can (though my range is probably more like 300 miles, given how huge is my home state of Oregon).
Coffee and tea come from all the most tropical places in the world (and all thousands of miles away) -- Guatemala, Ethiopia, China, Panama, Yemen. My spices, too, come from wild and wonderful, vastly distant countries -- Indonesia, Madagascar, Pakistan, Morocco. I can't give them up, so I exclude them from my local project, though I do work to buy fair-trade and organic varieties when possible.
Am I alone? Not hardly. Reviewing hundreds of the faithful's exemptions on locavores.com, I found many commonalities. What are your exemptions? Have you found a great local source for salt, pepper, tea? Please share!














