Planet Green
READ MORE ABOUT:
On the first day of spring, 2005, James MacKinnon and Alisa Smith plunged themselves into a year-long experiment: to eat only food grown within 100 miles of their Vancouver home. Not an easy task if you think about the oils you cook with, the salt that flavors your food, or coffee that wakes you up in the morning. But once they learned that most food travels an average of 1500 miles before it reaches the consumer, they decided it was a challenge worth taking on.
The adventure started with posts on the internet about their experiences, but as their audience grew and the local food movement gained momentum nationwide, their experiment was soon turned into a book. The 100-Mile Diet was published a year later, and their website now has subscribers from all over Canada and the U.S.
100-mile dieters have sprung up around the world, and more than two years since their personal year-long experiment has ended, James and Alisa are still eating about 85 percent local.
It's a commitment to sustainability and to fresh, healthy eating. They took their challenge to Mission, British Columbia to engage local residents in a 100-mile challenge of their own. When the town's 100 days were over, many participants said the same thing James and Alisa have: they liked local, and they're sticking to it.
Related Posts:
Take the Local Challenge - Eat Within a 100-Mile Radius
Could You Eat 100 Percent Local for a Week?
Save Money on Groceries with Free Local Fruit
Further Reading on Green Eating
