FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD

SO for the first segment of our Indian Summer, we are concentrating on, you might have guessed it, FOOD!

And if you've asked yourself why are these crazy girls concentrating on only eating local food, well hey you are in the right place to find out!

1. It's just better for the earth. It's the right thing to do to make everyone happy and healthy. SO much oil, water, and other fossil fuels and resources (including food) are wasted in the production of food.
example: for 16 lbs of grain and soy fed to beef cattle, we only get 1 lb of meat on our plates (the grain has 21x more calories, and 8x more protein, but only 3x more fat than the 1 lb)

2. So much is wasted in the production of food when there are people starving everywhere.
  "One billion people in the world are chronically hungry and one billion are overweight. "

3. Fresh food uses less water.
example: the ratio of water to produce 1 pound of protein from the food source from fresh to processed food in
        corn to canned corn 1/390mgs
        hamburger to hotdog 60/880mgs
        rice to minute rice 1/700 mgs

4. HEALTH "So many of our most dreaded diseases are related to the 'food' we now eat--the good news- we can reduce our chances of getting these diseases [obesity, cancer from antibiotics, heart disease, hyper-tension] when we control what we eat."

5. The definition of food has changed in our society. Now children answer that food comes from a box or a store. Some cannot identify vegetables in their natural shape. Do not realize they come from the ground.

6. We are constantly consuming hidden sugars, instead of eating more raw and local food.

7. "Whenever you eat what might be called inefficient food [ex. beef], you're consuming more of the planet's energy than you need to live well."
example: "Eating a typical family-of-four steak dinner is the rough equivalent, energy wise, of driving around in an SUV for three hours while leaving all the lights on at home."
-free-range, humanely raised beef is important (for ethical, environmental, and health reasons), but we need to consume less meat in general. "Eat less meat, but eat better meat."


Stay tuned for tips on what YOU can do to make a difference (specifically in Charlottesville), and reflections on our personal experiences.

In the beginning.

The Indian Summer has officially begun. On our first night, we had lots of friends over for desserts made a la local.  Check out the pics below!

What we used to eat.

What we're eating now!

Local eggs + honey for baking!

Our first Indian Summer lunch.

Good fruit.

Our friends started arriving!

It's dessert, not desert, because you want more.

Apple cobbler/peach cobbler.

Carrot cupcakes!

Our friends, enjoying some dessert and company.

So many people!

One of the guests signing the guest book.

Yeah. That salad was good.

Stay tuned for our official carbon footprint calculation!

T MINUS

7 DAYS.
7 DAYS.
Indian Summer officially begins in 7 days.

During the Indian Summer, we'll focus on reducing our carbon footprint through 5 different ways: (1) Local food & goods; (2) Recycling & composting; (3) Electronics; (4) Water ; and (5) Walking, biking, and mass transit.  While we keep our carbon footprint as low as possible, we'll spend about a week and a half focusing on each part in our blog, telling you all about our tricks, tips, and experiences!  First, we'll spend 8 days on food (and finish the Indian Summer with 8 days on local goods).

A few things we'll be sure to have up in the next few days: the start of an Indian Summer Bookshelf, A Few of Our Favorite Local Things, a space for people to make pledges along side of us, and shout outs to some very supportive, helpful people in this process.


Peace, love, and everything local!