Cheers to the Future of Local Food!

By Brian Taylor and Leah LarsenI am worried about the upcoming local food experience. Not having the accessible handful of chips, or the last minute trail mix grab before I head out the door for a long day of work is frightening to me. I usually eat massive amounts of food at mealtimes, snack hard when near an appropriate cupboard, and will gladly polish off my daughters’ (and some friends’) leftovers. However my body seems quite inefficient when it comes down to retaining any energy from those meals. I am hoping this local food experience harnesses my inner goat and not some starving maniac.In the goat scenario, a couple large bites of a perfectly sculptured lettuce wrap followed by a handful of crispy kale chips would yield me a full-days energy. I could be prancing around the farm whistling and burping as my stomachs worked out the nutrient extraction. If I overdid it, I would bloat up and take a little snooze in the shade. I would wake up and plan my next meal a little more carefully.To avoid the starving maniac scenario my family and I are planning a meal preparation day once per week. We will process as much food as possible for the upcoming week. Soups, salads, baked goods, preserves, anything to keep us rolling strong. We are going to try and make plenty of convenient snack foods like big bags of seasoned kale chips, dried fruits, and home baked crackers from local flour sweetened with a touch of honey from our bees.Although I am a bit hesitant, I am also extremely hopeful and excited about the challenge of it all. I am diving in head first. I want to see and feel what changes will come. Will I feel different? Will I have more energy? How will our family change? Will the community become stronger and more resilient? Will more families join the local food experience and answer some of these questions for themselves? I sure hope so.