Up for a challenge?  Down to support local farmers, eat fresh tasty food, reduce green house gas emissions and build community? My friends and I are, and we are hoping you’ll join us in our venture.  From Campus Local Food Week, October 9 through Michael Pollan’s (the author of the Omnivore’s Dilema) visit on November 29th, we will be committing ourselves to eating within 100 miles of Davis.  Before you start thinking we are complete wackos you’ve got to check this map out and recognize the bountiful harvest we’ve got available here.

This is an exercise to raise awareness of where our food comes from.  If you are up for it we’ve put together just a few simple guidelines to help you participate. You sign up below to make your commitment.  We have identified three primary categories for foodshed eater participation:

Source Based:  If you really want to push yourself  and be considered a hardcore Locavore this one is for you.  This diet consists of food that is grown within the foodshed only.  That means you get to subsist on all the glorious fruits and vegetables, meat, dairy, and seafood grown within the 100 miles of Davis. See who is up for the Source  Based Challenge.

Product Based:  This diet is based on goods purchased from producers within the 100 mile foodshed but the ingredients for the production are not necessarily from that area.  This raises the awareness of eaters while supporting local businesses and enables participants to enjoy this experience with very little sacrifice.  For example: Village Bakery produces local bread but the wheat used to make the bread is from elsewhere, or Common Grounds roasts and sells coffee here in town but the beans were grown in latin America.  See who is up for the Product Based Challenge

Make Your Own:  Not everyone has the energy to think about each meal they eat for 6 week so this option allows you to participate in the challenge at your own comfort level.  You decide your commitment whether it be one meal a week or completely source based except say your most essential foodstuff…coffee.

We aren’t trying to go back to the stone-age here and end all trade, we are trying to raise awareness of our food system.  Most people have little idea where their food is coming from.  Food just comes from the supermarket, and most folks have no concept or connection to the land or people that were responsible for bringing them that food.  Nor do they realize that their food probably traveled 1500 miles to get to their table.