One reason I wanted to read Plenty is that Smith & MacKinnon live in Vancouver, BC, just a 2 hour drive from where I live. So they were eating foods I could find here. While I was reading this, I would immediately get hungry for salmon, oysters, and mushrooms. Plenty reminded me about the bounty of my local area and encouraged me to get creative.
The only thing that bothered me about Plenty was that Smith & MacKinnon had tons of time to roam over the 100 surrounding miles looking for items that they might have had to give up. One reason that people give up eating locally is that they can't find beer/wheat/chocolate/coffee with local ingredients. If most people can't find local food at their nearest grocery store, then finding local food isn't that important. Or the local product is twice the price of the nonlocal product, then most people will buy the nonlocal product. Eating local (or all organic for that matter) is hard. I gave up trying the 100 mile diet. I decide on what's important for me to eat local and spend my money on those items.
Overall I really enjoyed Plenty. Others who shared their thoughts on Plenty: Books and Stuff, Love Apples, Bookwormbethie, and Sweet Tater Blog.
This was my tenth read for Foodies Read 2.
That is a cool concept about eating 100 miles within our home but I can see how that would be hard to actually do 100% of the time. Great review of this one!
ReplyDeleteSounds like an interesting read! I buy into the 100 mile diet, but it's really tough to do it in practicality. That would mean no tea, no coffee, no sugar aside from honey, no flour, no rice, no oats, no citrus, no chocolate, no olive oil, *sigh* need I go on? But there would be wine, cheese, apples and berries so there is that.. ;)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though, I do try to buy as local as possible when it comes to produce at least. And organic from anywhere when possible--both budget and availability. And I do try very hard to support sustainable agriculture and businesses as much as possible. Every little bit everyone can do helps our bodies and our planet. :)