NOTE: Conversation runs chronologically from top to bottom

Brad: I think this would be a great idea for SB members to take on for a one month period; The 100 Mile Diet. Not to lose weight but to try and buy everything that we eat that comes from within 100 miles. It would take a little research but might be fun. As a group, I think we could get some press on this!

Andrea: Just tell me what local fruit or vegetable has as much potassium as bananas? Is this diet something the food guild can do some research on? I will need a LOT of educating to do this right.

Brad: Try this link. Kale is at the top of the list! whfoods

Jenny: Great idea! This is something we discussed briefly in the last Food Guild meeting! As a topic for our Ballard News Tribune article. I would love to know if anything you can buy at the grocery store will fit the criteria. And if that research could be shared with Ballard Market so they might be able to do one of their in-store features on it. You know, they could highlight 100 Mile Diet foods. Wouldn't that be cool? Following the diet would definitely be easier to take on with a group, so that we could all help each other find foods that fit the criteria. and, of course, alot easier in the summer or fall.

Brad: Maybe it's something we could approach them on and get a list. Maybe it could be a combined effort with the Ballard Market and The Farmer's Market where local meats are available. Just a thought as I know a group of chefs had to prepare a meal with foods from a 100 mile radius and it was a challenge.

Vic: 100 mile diet ... I brought this up at the NE EcoBuilding meeting last night ... presentation on "Garbage" with panel discussion (Aaron Kahn, facilitator) ... people love treehugger.com ... this 100 Mile Diet idea was well received. On another note ... I saw the flower sellers at the Ballard farmers Market also at the Roslyn Farmers Market several months back. Wow ... just how local are some of these folks and how much do they travel to sell? One of the owners at Olsen Furniture says he doesn't like having the Ballard Farmers Market .... "those people do not pay property taxes" like the rest of the business building owners on Ballard Avenue. Great discussion.

Andrea: So, the diet is a great idea. Who can take the lead on implementation? Honestly, I think I'd like to see a kind of a road map for what we guilds are working on so we see where various projects fit into the old seastar...

Brad: I should come out to one of the food guild meetings, as I'd like to be a part of it.

Ann: I think that's a good question: what is local? Just Seattle? Just Ballard? Washington state? Cascadia bioregion? Hmmm, something to ponder and discuss. I would definitely participate in the 100 mile diet challenge - a great idea!

Jenny: You might check the new wiki for that roadmap - that's where it is headed anyway.

Brad: I think it would have to be 100 miles from Ballard or Seattle. We could always stretch it to 150 miles...as Wenatchee has some great fruit and veggies. I think if everything had to be grown or produced in Ballard we'd starve.

Andrea: We need to deal with the reality...NO chocolate and NO coffee. Can we stand it?

Brad: Maybe we could make an exception. I forgot about coffee!

Jenny: Can we choose one or the other? I don't drink coffee. Actually I would probably chose olive oil as my exception.

Erica: I came across this concept a while back, from PathToFreedom.com. The Tyee, a newspaper in BC, is running a series of columns written by a local couple who are undertaking the 100 Mile Diet (this is also linked in Brad's original Tree Hugger article link). See the latest in the series here: http://www.thetyee.ca/Life/2005/10/10/Thanksgiving100/ At the bottom of this latest article, you will find links to the seven previous articles which have been published in this series. When I mentioned some of the hardships which the couple was experiencing, to my friends in Vancouver, BC (who are from Czech Rep), they laughed and said, they need a root cellar!! And said that if you pack certain types of vegetables in sand, they'll keep for donkey's years.

My thought on this is that it's not so much about who can be a purist 100-Mile-Dieter, but what you LEARN from TRYING to do the 100-Mile-Diet. It provokes a rediscovery of old knowledge concerning food storage, etc, and a gigantic awareness of how vulnerable our food supply really is. It makes you realize just how dependent you are on other regions, and makes you aware of your surroundings. This, to me, is the utility in getting people to try the 100 Mile Diet. No way am I giving up coffee :-) but that doesn't mean I've failed. And ditto on the olive oil (thank goodness California grows olives!)

Jenny: Great points, Erica. I've been interested in doing this for a little while, but just don't feel able to devote the time to doing all the research myself. That's why this would be such a great group project.