This is without a doubt my favourite time of year and there’s an abundance of beautiful, nutritious, local produce in this region right now. There really is nothing I can’t get from my local farmers’ markets or direct from producers. Everything is on my doorstep, including milk, bread, cheese, vegetables, fruit, jams, pickles, oils, vinegars, chicken, beef, pork, wine, honey, eggs… the list goes on!
I’m happiest when I’m able to eat 100% local, knowing that the food I’m buying is produced without unnecessary chemicals, fertilisers and other ‘stuff’. In all likelihood, it’s more nutrient-dense too. I call this ‘unadulterated food’.
As someone who suffers from a smorgasbord of auto-immune conditions and irritating (quite literally) food intolerances, what I eat, where it comes from and how it’s grown is super important to me. Sure, it takes effort, commitment, and discipline to eat like this. I’m not ashamed to say that sometimes I do fall off the ‘only local and only seasonal wagon’. Non-local or non-seasonal ingredients creep in – I’m partial to bananas and honestly, they’re one of the few fruits I can eat – but that’s OK. There are times when it’s just about getting through the day. I’m learning very slowly not to beat myself up when I ‘fail’ at local and seasonal eating, but the more I practice it, the better I get!
Often, it’s about simplicity. Learning to work with the ingredients that are available. Adjusting expectations. Eating less. Buying what I need. Being a ‘conscious consumer’. Celebrating when I do make the choice to only buy local for the weekly shop and avoid the supermarket or when my 9-year-old daughter eats the locally grown food over anything else!
I’m not perfect and truth be told; I’m still on a journey. My values and principles have not disappeared, but I’m being kind to myself, less self-judgemental. I expect my journey, and learning to live more consciously and sustainably – treading lightly on this earth – will be lifelong. And for a self-confessed perfectionist/control freak like me, that is a wonderful way to look at life.
Speaking of simplicity, one of my favourite quick meals is a good, old-fashioned ‘fry-up’ (sorry, that’s my English heritage creeping in there…) with a local twist. All local ingredients… On this occasion, it was a local speck: mushrooms, haloumi, beans, eggs and olive oil. Plus, my homemade sourdough bread with my dukkah.
Delicious and satisfying, both physically and mentally.
What local produce have you eaten recently?