It's 4 PM on Wednesday, December 30th. I'm at the office finishing up. Joanne is off running some errands. And, once again, I am starving. I had a decent breakfast. Started with coffee (exception 1), coconut milk (exception 2) in my coffee, and half a big cherimoya. I stirfried onion and napa cabbage in coconut oil (ex...ecption 2, like I said) and threw in some freshly steamed brown rice (exception 3). Decent, right? Huge, by some standards. Joanne and I (mostly Joanne this time) made giganto salads for lunch (pic) with more brown rice on top. By 1:30 PM I had consumed the entire salad. And now my stomach is growling. Within 10 feet of me are high-quality and delicious protein bars and powdered meal replacement shakes. But, I'm a hardcore locavore on day 364 of Eat Local One Year. I wanted to tell you this so that you would know, that there have been many times and days in 2009 when I have not planned well and found myself hungry and with not a scrap of local food in sight. No complaint here. Just a great year-long, life-awakening choice! :)

Chef Tim and The Sidecar Restaurant - All Aboard!

I just communicated with Chef Tim at the Sidecar Restaurant in Ventura. He is a committed participant of Locavore Lite 2010 and a proud supporter of the project!

Tim has been using lots of great local food for a long time. Please check him out at: http://www.thesidecarrestaurant.com/ , and let him know how much you appreciate his support of local food and Locavore Lite 2010 !

And I wish to thank the 6 followers of our Locavore Lite 2010 blog!!! Together we will link the residents of Ventura County and the residents of this earth.

Kris

Day 362

Just a quick note before I head off to bed. We have 3 days left of this beautiful and informative year-long Eat Local One Year project (http://eatlocaloneyear.com ). I will let you search out and read of the rigors that we have lived, but suffice it to say that we have shopped for or grown, planned for and prepared over 900 all-local food meals in 2009. Almost every day we thought about and worked with where our food came from.

In 2008 we called out for, looked for 98 others in Ventura County to join us on this journey. We found 19, and the 21 of us set forth together on January 1, 2009.

The difficulty of the project is clearly indicated by the number of those willing to give it a try. Nine of us will complete the project at 12:00 AM on January 1, 2010.

I am so grateful to have been inspired by Barbara Kingsolver to create this project, for the opportunity to have participated in this project, and to the friends that took the challenge with us!

We will continue in 2010 and beyond to eat more locally than previously in our lives. But not as edgy as in 2009.

On January 1, 2010 we launch Locavore Lite 2010. Please join us. We are looking for 5,000 people to join us in Ventura County, and thousands more world-wide.

Kris

Locavore Lite Rule Refinement

We are refining the ground rules; creating more flexibility so that everyone's individuality can be honored! Read below.

Please consider becoming a follower of this blog so that you can stay involved!

Kris

Official Ground Rules for Participation in Locavore Lite 2010
1)    commit to this year-long project for which participation begins on January 1, 2010, or at the latest by April 1, 2010, and ends on January 1, 2011,
2)    at any time during the year, give some consideration to where your non-local foods come from,
3)    one time per month, or a minimum of 12 times in 2010, do one, or any combination of the following: a) shop at a farmers’ market, b) receive produce from a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farmer, c) harvest food from a local farm, garden or yard,
4)    eat at least 3 all-local-food meals during 2010 (try to spread them out through the year)

Ground Rule Explanations
1)    a parent may make the commitment for participation for a minor,
2)    with the exception of salt, all ingredients in your “all-local-food meals” must be grown within 100 miles of your home,
3)    all-local-food meals can be easily accomplished by participating in an all-local-food potluck, or purchasing an all-local-food meal at a restaurant such as Main Course California - http://www.maincoursecalifornia.com ,
4)    if an individual is not able to sign up to participate at the beginning of 2010, and if she/he is unable to shop at a farmers’ market, receive a CSA order, or harvest food from a local farm, garden or yard in any of the first 3 months of the year, she/he may make up the missed month in a subsequent month – the total must be at least 12 for the calendar year,
5)    if one is unable to shop at a farmers’ market, receive a CSA order, or harvest food from a local farm, garden or yard in any month of the year, she/he may make up the missed month in a subsequent month – the total must be at least 12 for the calendar year,
6)    for those for whom shopping at a farmers’ market is too expensive, it is important to know that any purchase at a farmers’ market counts as shopping. One might buy a single apple.

Farmers Growing and Eating Local w/ Locavore Lite 2010

We've officially got 3 farmers feeding us and participating with us!!! Pictured on the right is Olivia, the Cook, of The Farmer & the Cook!

Steve Sprinkle of The Farmer & The Cook - http://www.farmerandcook.com
Johnny Fonteyn of The Farmer & The Cook - http://www.farmerandcook.com
Phil McGrath of McGrath Family Farms - http://www.mcgrathfamilyfarm.com

I am so grateful to farmers who grow clean, healthy food for us!

Who's next?

Kris