Personal Food Challenge

Lately, Jill and I have been loving our fresh picked foods and farmers market finds. I mean, really. What's not to love: fresh vegetables for every meal that taste like they have been kissed by the summer sun.  However, we both recognize that it will be very difficult to sustain ourselves on these types of foods throughout the winter months (since Wisconsin's growing season is a bit more limited than other places in the country).

Also, we have been making a conscious effort lately, to reduce our food waste and costs. Furthermore, neither of us are too interested in chowing down on over-processed "food products".

Perhaps we sound like picky eaters to you, but really we are just trying to keep our bodies, community and planet healthy. So here is our plan:

1. Don't buy packaged foods. At least the best that we can. Our exception is dairy, but we are going to seek out farm fresh eggs and bulk cheese for as long as we can. Furthermore, we have lately taken to glass bottled milk: this is great because the bottle is returned to the grocery and the companies reuse the bottles! No new production of packaging necessary.

2. Eat as much local, in-season food as possible. This means farmer's market foods for the remainder of the growing season and we will preserve a portion of our fresh produce so that we can enjoy our summer foods throughout the winter.

3. Prepare as many basics as possible. What the heck does that mean?! Well, not eating packaged food may sound awful to many of you, since it includes packaged crackers, pasta sauce, yogurt, cereal, etc. We are going to take on the challenge of learning to make these things from scratch! Its been done before, and we are hoping to bring back the art of making-your-own food. Perhaps it might take longer to eat this way, but it will surely make us more deliberate eaters and hopefully we will learn food preparation skills that we will take with us for the rest of our lives.

This year will be a grand food adventure, to say the least. However, we are excited to start! Watch our blog to see our many new recipes that we discover and prepare. Also, if you have any tips, advice or brilliant recipes for us, your wisdom will be warmly welcomed. From the girls in the garden unit, happy eating!