I knocked out January’s challenge on the first weekend of the month. My brain sparked with ideas for the year as I walked through the farmers market. I also learned about winter seasonality and new local companies. Keep reading for more! (Here’s the challenge intro post if you missed it.)

Winter Seasonality

A big focus of eating farm-to-table is seasonality. As the seasons change, only certain ingredients will grow in the climate. Eating seasonally ensures you are eating food grown locally and not food that has traveled a long way. It’s also an encouragement to eat different types of vegetables.

Here are some vegetables in season in Texas from the winter months of December to February:

• Beets
• Turnips
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Cabbage
• Spinach
• Asparagus
• Napa Cabbage
• Bok Choy
• Sweet Potatoes
• Radishes
• Leeks
• Fennel
• Cilantro
• Parsley

Is eating out of season bad? For the produce that can’t be grown locally, it is flown in from the places where they can be grown. For example, if you see strawberries in Texas grocery stores in winter, they’re not from Texas. This is not particularly bad but remember it takes fuel for that produce to get from the farm it was grown on to your grocery store. So, there’s a question of the environmental impact of transport.

January’s Farm-to-Table Meals

I went to the Texas Farmers Market early on a Saturday to shop for the day of eating. I had a slight idea of what I wanted to eat but I knew it depended on what was available. I ended up buying a bunch of items and hoping I could make some meals out of them. Here’s what I ended up buying:

• Two Chicken Leg Quarters (one lb) from Humble Rooster Farm of Bertram, TX ($7.16)
• One Dozen Eggs from Ringger Family Farm of Smithville, TX ($6.00)
• Mushrooms (one lb of baby bellas and two big portobellos) from Kitchen Pride Mushrooms of Gonzales, TX ($9.50)
• Vegetables (broccoli, root vegetable bag, bunch of kale) from Johnson’s Backyard Garden of Austin, TX ($11.50)
• 250ml olive oil from Texas Hill Country Olive Co. of Dripping Springs, TX ($16.00)

And here are the resulting meals:

Breakfast: Mushroom and Kale Egg Scramble

Lunch: Kale Salad, Boiled Eggs, Grilled Portobello

Dinner: Grilled Chicken Leg Quarters, Root Vegetable Soup, Steamed Broccoli

Johnson’s Backyard Garden was selling root vegetable soup bags, and I thought it would be easy to make. I cooked with purple daikon, white turnip, and red radish, some vegetables I’ve never made before. The soup turned out delicious.

We did have two cheats – the marinade for the chicken legs and I picked up a bottle of Texas Keeper Cider. The cidery is in Manchaca, Texas but the apples are from New York. It is delicious!

Conclusion

This challenge is off to a good start, and I enjoyed the meals in the day. I spent $50.16 and had plenty of leftover ingredients from my farmers market haul to use in other meals throughout the week. The cost was more than what I would usually spend at the grocery store, but the flavor was worth it and the bottle of olive oil will last me for a while. Next month, I’m looking forward to cooking with more new ingredients!

Are you trying local eats? Tell me all about it below!

P.S. See all the posts from this challenge here.

You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Bloglovin’. You can also subscribe to the exclusive email list.

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For the past couple of years, I’ve eaten fairly consciously. We buy groceries at the store once a week and usually buy organic vegetables and natural, grass-fed meat. We aim for at least three homecooked dinners weekly with enough leftovers for the next day. There are as few processed foods as possible in our cart. Last year’s cookbook challenge was fun, but I wondered how we could make eating local a part of my goals.

Why Eat Local?

Simply put, eating local is good for your body and good for your community.

A lot of times, we take our food for granted. We choose price over quality and so do grocery stores that buy them. We are disconnected from the farmers who spend their lives producing the food we eat. Farming is a hard industry that isn’t celebrated as much as it should be. Can you imagine how bare our grocery store shelves would be without farms?

By eating locally, you connect with your local food system. Think about the food you buy and how far it came. It starts at a farm and is possibly grown with pesticides present. Fruits and vegetables are usually picked before they are ready to eat so that they don’t go bad in the journey to the grocery store. The miles the food travels and the fuel involved also has an impact on the environment.

Now, when you’re buying a vegetable at the farmers market, you’re supporting someone in your community who drove 200 miles (at the most) to sell you something they picked that week. It wouldn’t get fresher unless you have a garden in your backyard.

My Farm-to-Table Challenge

The inspiration for my challenge started from the Local Thirty Challenge by Dishing Up the Dirt. Andrea Bemis, a farmer and home cook in Oregon, writes this food and recipe blog. One day when grabbing a can of coconut milk from her pantry, Andrea realized that can had no connection to her at all. She didn’t know who grew the coconuts or who processed them. As you can imagine, for a farmer, that realization can be concerning. So, for 30 days, she, her husband, and family and friends consumed only things that came from 200 miles of where they lived.

I wanted to join in the Local Thirty challenge, but it is also incredibly daunting to me to question every ingredient in your kitchen and upend your grocery habits for a long period of time. So, I’m going to start small for now and make it a year-long adventure. While I do my best to incorporate local produce into all my meals, I will set aside one day every month where all meals and snacks are home-cooked and whose ingredients are sourced from Texas.

Here are some key guidelines and notes to help me with this challenge.

• Local means the ingredients are from Texas. Every part of the meal is local, and this includes the ingredients grown to make them.
• Some local companies use ingredients outside of Texas to make their products. These will not count as local. For example, many hops used by breweries and apples used by cideries are not from Texas.
• Certain items will be my exceptions because I haven’t found a company that produces this in Texas or it’s not a Texas product: black pepper, salt, lemon, and alcohol.
• I’m going to find places that support local goods, in addition to farmers markets.
• I’m going to be curious and ask questions about the processes and industry. Just because it is sold at the farmers market does not mean it is completely local.
• I want to celebrate local makers and farmers and the hard work they do!

Conclusion

It’s called a challenge for a reason and I have a few concerns but I think designating one day every month to take it on can be an eye-opening adventure. I hope I’ll learn more about where food comes from and bounty of Texas. Local farmers and makers work hard to share their passion, and I look forward to learning about their companies. I’m sure new ingredients and recipes will challenge me.

I’ll be posting my meals every month and sharing on social with #LocalMonthly. I hope you’ll follow along!

Do you have any favorite Texas food companies? Would you take on a challenge like this?

P.S. See all the posts from this challenge here.

You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Bloglovin’. You can also subscribe to the exclusive email list.

The post My Farm-to-Table Challenge: How I Will Eat Local This Year appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

From the wide grins on our faces as we loaded the overflowing bags into the car, we looked like we had just come from a candy store.

Boyfriend and I eat relatively healthy by preference. Our meals are full of vegetables and protein, all organic if possible. (Remember when we did Whole30 last summer?) And despite researching the best cupcakes in Austin for the blog and attending sweets-heavy media events, my sweet tooth cravings are minimal.

We are health-conscious, local-loving, reusable-bag-carrying people. We eat farmers’ markets up!

I want to make going to the farmers’ market a regular thing, and I encourage you to try it out too! Basically you get big karma points for visiting your local farmers’ market. It’s good for you, your family, your community, and our world. Not sure why? Read on!

8 Reasons Why You Should Visit Your Local Farmers’ Market

1. Discover new products.
Pomegranate ginger beer? All the different types of kale? Pierogies? Walking around a farmers’ market will introduce you to new ingredients and products. Ask a vendor for a sample or recipe and then purchase to enjoy at home!

2. Save the environment.
The goods you buy at the grocery store travel a long way to get there. The big truck they sit on uses fossil fuels which cause pollution. Big companies also use packaging that turns into trash. Farmers at the market come from shorter distances and most don’t use packaging or use reusable bottles.

3. Enjoy the outdoors.
Hello, vitamin D and fresh air! I don’t get outside enough, and I know it makes me much happier when I do. So, go get some fresh air as you enjoy all the other benefits on this list.

4. Improve your health.
Locally grown is more nutritious. If you ever talk to a local farmer, you’ll hear the passion in their voice. The produce is as natural, organic, non-GMO, and all the other good terms, as possible. There are fewer pesticides present and more careful growing results in more nutrition-filled produce. You’ll also find more health-conscious products at the farmers’ market.

5. Enjoy a better tasting product.
More nutritious food means a better tasting product. When things are grown in the wild and with love, they grow to their full potential. Produce tends to be bigger, juicer, or whatever their “best” is.

6. Learn about seasonal products.
You’ll find seasonal products at the farmers market. Your region’s climate is suited for certain products in each season. It’s a fun challenge to take your newly discovered ingredients and cook with them!

7. Save money.
When you buy straight from the source without a middle man (grocery store or retailer), you’re getting a discount. Your wallet thanks you in advance.

8. Support your local makers and farmers.
Products and produce sold at a farmers market came out of love. These makers and farmers are passionate and prideful about their product and work hard to create it. Many times, companies start selling at a farmers market before they can open their own storefront or start selling at a retailer.

Farmers’ Markets in Austin

• a.k.a. mixology: My friend Alicia makes fresh and natural clarified juices perfect to use as a mixer or add to a recipe.
• Johnson’s Backyard Garden: This farm’s selection is always plentiful!
• Dulcis Milks: These organic almond milks are so satisfying! I recommend the Golden Child, which includes a nice blend of spices.
• Pure Luck Dairy: Cheese, please!
• Kitchen Pride Mushrooms: Incredible mushrooms!
• Cake and Spoon: You’ve got to try their scones and quiches.
• SoCo Ginger Beer: This all natural ginger beer has me hooked.

Have you ever been to a farmers’ market? What did you like about it?

P.S. One of my favorite travel tips is to visit a city’s farmers’ market. You can learn so much about the city and culture by seeing what they eat. Plus, walking around a farmers’ market is a free activity AND you may end up finding some of the best eats there.

Keep up with me elsewhere! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin’, or Snapchat (@wanderlustanita). You can also subscribe to the exclusive email list.

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