One of my fellow food bloggers contacted me a few months ago and asked if I could share “baby steps” to cooking real food since I’m a middle of the road blogger; she said she doesn’t even know how to relate to people who aren’t on the far end of the real food spectrum. I wasn’t entirely sure whether to take that as a compliment or not.
I decided to go ahead and take it as a compliment. After all, if I can help others discover the joy of local eating (even if it’s not all the time, as I certainly don’t eat 100% local) and make it accessible to the average person that’s a good thing, in my opinion. I never did write any tips for my friend, although it is somewhere in the middle of my ever-growing “to do” pile. My biggest tip would be to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Other than that? Read the book Eat Where You Live: How to Find and Enjoy Local and Sustainable Food No Matter Where You Live by Lou Bendrick.
I was so excited when Ashley from Mountaineers Books contacted me about doing a review and giveaway. I had never heard of that publishing imprint before but it’s quickly becoming one of my favorites. She was even very accommodating when I requested an ebook to review instead of a hard copy (thank you, publishers, for helping save trees! Although I love a good printed cookbook, when you’re a reviewer the stack of books quickly becomes overwhelming.) I downloaded Eat Where You Live last night and devoured it in one sitting.
Eat Where You Live is an excellent introduction to local eating. It’s written in an easy to read voice and it’s so encouraging – Lou makes it sound like an adventure to be explored rather than a moral imperative. All the basic locavore topics are covered, including
- Farms, markets, and other sources
- Gardening
- Foraging
- Food preservation
- The art and importance of leisurely meals
- Sharing local and sustainable food
- Seasonal eating and drinking
If you have been eating local for awhile now, you probably won’t learn anything new but it’s still a fun read. If you are just starting to wade into the waters of locavorism, this will make it seem very do-able.
Giveaway Details
Now for the part you’ve been waiting for. Ashley has offered to send one of my readers a copy of Eat Where You Live. You can even choose whether you’d prefer an ebook or a printed book. You can earn up to three entries.
- Comment below saying what your biggest challenge is when it comes to eating locally.
- Visit the Mountainers Books website and choose another book that catches your eye, then come back and share it in a separate comment.
- To celebrate my new affiliate relationship with IndieBound, visit the Eat Where You Live page and use the “Find an Indie Bookstore Near You” button to find your nearest Indie Bookstore. Come back here and, in a separate comment, tell us what the nearest store is and whether you’ve ever been to it.
Good luck! Entries will be accepted until Friday, March 18, EST. Contest open anywhere in the world but only those in the U.S. will be able to choose the printed format as their prize; others will receive the ebook.
My biggest challenge is the winter,
My biggest challenge is knowing how to cook all of the delicious local food available at farmer’s markets. Winter is hard too.
The closes indie store is The Bookstore at Fitger’s, Duluth,Minnesota 7.6 miles from my house. Sadly, I have never shopped there.
THE ZEN OF SNOWY TRAILS: Wit, Wisdom, and Inspiration looks like a fun book to help get through the long winters.
We have started trying to eat local and there are a ton of options around here, but I feel overwhelmed because everything is so scattered about, I feel like I have to spend hours on a saturday just driving around to the different places, plus with gas going up quickly, it doesn’t seem economical to drive 25 miles to purchase vegetables. I think as we get into it more, it will be easier, plus January probably wasn’t the best time to start. Baby steps is how we’re going so far.
I like to eat locally, but produce is only available certain months. In winter, we ship it in.
twoofakind12@yahoo.com
There is a bookstore, mecosta book gallery that sells them. I have never been there.
twoofakind12@yahoo.com
My closest indie book store is Pagemaster Used Books, Front Royal VA, and I’ve enjoyed visiting there several times.
My biggest challenge (excuse) is time…I work long hours and don’t feel like cooking when I get home…I know I can plan better and overcome this obstacle.
Another book that I thought looked interesting was the Urban Pantry…
The nearest indie bookstore is Howard’s Bookstore and I have been there…several times!!
I would love to read this book as I find eating local in the Arctic very challenging. We have a 60 day growing season, limited availability and variety, lack of water, etc…
I’m WAY into the whole eating local thing, to the point of lots of freezing and canning in the summer to get us through the winter with local fruits and veggies. My biggest challenge is overcoming the guilt when I don’t eat locally. The best part of eating locally? The relationships I’ve developed with local farmers via local farmer’s markets.
my biggest challenge for eating locally…well I have 2, our local farmer’s market is only open on Saturday mornings, and we just can’t get there some weeks. I’d love to have a back up for times when we just can’t make it there.
Secondly, there is a large farmer’s market in a Raleigh, I live in Durham, NC, right next to Raleigh, but I haven’t been able to find organic veggies there. It would be great if they did have organic farmers because they are open a lot more.
I saw many books that I would love to read on Mountaineer Books site. But I think the first one that I saw interest me the most. Backcountry Betty Crafting with Style. I love art and crafts and the idea of creating with no trace left behind, really appeals to me.
I already knew that the closes independent bookstore near me is The Regulator Book Store on Ninth Street in Durham, NC. I love that store!! I’m just so comfortable there and could spend hours there exploring and reading. They also have great authors come to speak!
My biggest challenge is eating fruit in the winter. This year, I canned peaches, froze blueberries, and made applesauce to freeze, but it just doesn’t seem like enough! I have been caving and buying oranges and occasionally bananas, but next year, I’d like to buy less and put back more.
Greetings from sunny California! Even here in “wine country” we work at having diversified crops. I enjoy our Farmers Market that runs May-October, but don’t always know how to cook what I see there. What do I do with Opo?
My biggest obstacle is finding fresh produce in the winter
Thanks for the giveaway!
Amy B.
adennispac (at) yahoo (dot) com
I like the Backcountry Betty Crafting book
Thanks for the giveaway!
Amy B.
adennispac (at) yahoo (dot) com
The closest Indie Bookstore is Riverlights in Dubuque. I’ve never been there.
Thanks for the giveaway!
Amy B.
adennispac (at) yahoo (dot) com
My biggest challenge is the winter. We can and freeze our CSA bounty, and I got a dehydrator for Christmas, but still, by February/March, we just crave fresh fruits and such. We have a great local coop, and lots of CSAs in our area, and some friends just announced plans to start a winter CSA, so we are looking forward to seeing what winter produce that brings!
I love nature crafting!
BACKCOUNTRY BETTY CRAFTING WITH STYLE: Nature-Inspired Projects
The nearest listed Indie bookstore is the local college bookstore, but I also know that Monkey See Monkey Read is an indie bookstore nearby as well. Thanks!
My biggest challenge to eating local is knowing where to start and finding the right places to shop. I am new to all of this and see that I could be running around multiple days a week trying to get local food from different places. I tend to want to do it all and then I get overwhelmed and don’t do anything. I want to learn where to start.
The book Urban Pantry catches my eye. I live in Atlanta, GA, so while there are Farmer’s Markets and farms nearby, I would like to know how this can work well in urban areas.
The nearest Indie bookstore to me is Gray Parrot Gallery, 5 miles away. I have not (yet) been to it.
I live in the midwest and we can’t get fruits and veggies grown locally most of the year.
My biggest challenge to eating locally is staying within my grocery budget. When I can only buy limited foods locally, which ones should I get? Also, where can I get the best prices on local foods? Are CSAs the way to go?
EDIBLE HEIRLOOMS: Heritage Vegetables for the Maritime Garden catches my eye – I would love to start my own garden!
Ugh the winter. I need to do better at freezing things in the summer.
My nearest indie bookstore is Anderson’s Bookstore in Naperville and I visit it often, and have ever since I was a little girl!
My challenge to earing local is the winter and also finding proteins. In NJ we have a lot of farms and farmers markets in the summer and fall but not in winter and also I can find produce and eggs but not so much meat.
My biggest challenge is the lack of availability of local food, except for April – October, when the farmer’s markets are open. Even then, I have to drive at least 30 minutes to find a large selection that includes meat as well as fruits, veggies, and grains. We do have a once-a-week farmer’s market in my small town, but it only has one bread stand, and only about 6 regular vendors. None sell local meat.
My closest indie bookstore is Diana’s bookstore in Elkin, NC! It is a great bookstore, and I try to go every time I’m in Elkin, which is about 20 miles from my town.
I would LOVE to read Urban Pantry: Tips and Recipes for a Thrifty, Sustainable, and Seasonal Kitchen
My biggest challenge is taking the time to make a separate trip to the farmer’s market in addition to the other two stores I always have to go to. I guess it boils down to laziness!
Definitely the battle with time and convenience! I signed up with a CSA last year hoping that would help us transition to more local without adding a big time commitment, but we ended up being frustrated with their selection and portions.
biggest challenge is the price
My biggest challenge is storing enough local produce, from the weekly seasonal farmer’s market, to keep it fresh.
I would love to read this in the hardcopy:
URBAN PANTRY: Tips & Recipes for a Thrifty, Sustainable & Seasonal Kitchen
Closest Indie bookstore: Liberty Bay Books, Poulsbo, WA
My biggest challenge of eating local is finding where to shop for food locally. In the summer there is the farmers market, but the rest of the year I don’t know where to shop.
My biggest challenge when it comes to eating locally is that there is only one farmers market in our area and only a few farms that I have found that sell directly to the consumer. Though I would love to, its not feasible to shop local products only.
Finding local citrus fruits!
not sure wher to go to get local stuff the printed book will come in handy
willdebbie97 t yahoo . com
Finding a place that not only has fresh local food but also that my 4 boys will also enjoy.
Love to win the e-book if it is nookcolor compatible if not the hard copy would be great.
The hardest part is weighing what matters most to me –most local? most sustainably grown? an organic label? We have lots of options and it seems to complicate things.
The nearest Indie Bookstore is Book Lovers. I have never been. I thought it was used-only and I was surprised to learn from their website that they also sell new books.
I like the looks of URBAN PANTRY: Tips & Recipes for a Thrifty, Sustainable & Seasonal Kitchen. It sounds like it has some useful ideas.
I live in a very rural area but because of regulations, there’s really no place to buy local goods other than veggies…and even they’re few and far between, since most folks here have their own gardens.
I’d like to read “URBAN PANTRY: Tips & Recipes for a Thrifty, Sustainable & Seasonal Kitchen” by Amy Pennington.
My nearest store is Sugden Book Store. I’ve never been there. It’s about an hour’s drive from my home.