The Footprint
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Adventures in the 100-Mile Diet

by Miranda Edel

100 Miles

A year ago I first heard the term “100-mile diet” and thought that it was impossible. The 100-mile diet is not a new diet fad. It is not a gimmick to lose weight. The premise of the “100-mile Diet” is to only eat foods that are grown or produced within a 100-mile radius. This would mean that all produce, fruits, eggs, meats, and dairy would have to come from a 100-mile radius of Rochester. That had to be impossible for those of us in Minnesota - after all, we live in southeastern Minnesota and half of year is snow covered. I quickly put the notion of eating within a hundred-mile radius out of my mind. Over the period of the summer, however, I noticed that I was doing more and more of my food shopping at the farmer’s market. Soon my only grocery shopping took place at the farmer’s market every Saturday. I began to plan my meals around what I found at the market versus shopping for my menu. I changed the way I started to think about food.

Autumn came and I found myself stocking up on produce for the winter. I purchased extras of everything that I would need and preserved (canned or froze) the extras. I found myself thinking about how to preserve the harvest and eat locally year-round.

Thanksgiving brought a debate. Do I try to serve a 100-mile Thanksgiving? I decided to give it a try – and I succeeded. Local turkey, local potatoes, local pumpkin, local apples, brussel sprouts, milk, and on and on. I could actually find everything in the Rochester area!

March and April were my only period of struggle with the 100-mile diet. I finished the broccoli and peas and the potatoes and apples were consumed. I was saddened that I had finished my stash of local foods, but decided to continue only purchasing local diary and shopping at the Winer Farmer’s Market.

There are a few exceptions to my meals. I did use salt and wheat – neither local, but I did bake my own bread. I was given an orange in January and savored every bite. My year of eating foods grown within a hundred-mile radius was successful and I look forward to the coming seasons.

Do you want to try the 100-mile diet?

  1. Start small - try one meal or a week of only eating locally.

  2. Do what you can. Perhaps you only want to eat local fruits or vegetables. Perhaps you want to find local meats and dairy. Choose what you want to try - there are no rules.

  3. Visit the Farmer’s Market. All the produce is locally grown. It is an easy step toward eating locally.

  4. Plant a garden. There is nothing quite as local as your back (or front) yard.

  5. Learn to Preserve. Learning to freeze and can food enabled me to stretch my local eating into spring.

  6. Have Fun. Get others to join you. Invite friends over for a local dinner, challenge your family to find local foods. Remember - there are no rules.

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