Redefining Locavore

After some research into the term Locavore, I found that it has been used primarily to describe eating local food. So really, we’re redefining the Oxford Dictionary word of the year. But we can do that right?

Therefore, for the purposes of this experiment, we’ll be referring to Locavore as someone who purchases only locally, following Rule #1.

It all starts with Coffee

I must admit, I’ve been preparing for this switch in purchasing habits for a while. I grew up in Boston, and like so many, had been indoctrinated into the Dunkin’ Donuts morning coffee cult. I stopped going to D&D about 6 months ago on a regular basis, and 3 months ago completely. I’m sure that if I had one now, I’d be loving it still, but have switched to a local coffee diet now. True Grounds is my closest and preferred local shop (I’m on my second free coffee card), it’s also on my way to work which makes it the most convenient. I also have been hitting up Diesel Café, Sherman Café and Bloc 11 pretty regularly (They also all happen to be on the SLF Steering Committee).

My takeaway has been this: the coffee is better – I really feel that way, it’s cheaper or at least equal to the price of D&Ds and definitely less expensive than Starbucks, and I love going in and seeing a familiar and friendly face in the morning. The one drawback so far has been parking: it’s not always easy to find a spot in the morning and since I cut it close and wake up as late as possible, there’s not always time for me to look for a spot.

Local Food

The fastest, and the most frequent way, to go local is by supporting local food sources. I’ve been looking at a few different ways to do this. First, the most effective way to start eating locally, for me, has been to stop going to any chain restaurants or food establishments, and support local restaurants, grocery stores and produce instead. Pretty much, wherever I am in my life, there’s a locally owned option (I don’t make it out to the Rt. 9 strip much, but I guess it could be a problem there).

Here are a few things I’ve tried recently with produce:

-Boston Organics

I live with 3 other people, we call our house The Salmon Palace in deference to its lovely exterior color, and I may refer to it as such from time to time. We’ve been working out some of our grocery options lately. We tried the organic produce delivery service. They’re not in Somerville, but are locally owned and deliver food from local farms. In the end though, the produce was good, but the quantity for what we paid was questionable. We decided to stop the subscription after 1 delivery.

-Farm Shares (Community Supported Agriculture)

We are also looking into purchasing a Farm Share, (Red Fire Farm is one option we looked at) which is good in a couple of ways. First, you really do become a Locavore in that you are eating only what can be grown locally. Also, CSA is a really cool concept that supports a thriving local economy of food and creates a partnership and relationship with local farmers. For my experiment, the drawback is that it’s not a Somerville farm (not that there could be one I guess). Also, there’s a significant up front cash requirement. $150 for each roommate if we all did it, and there was a chance that only 3 will do so, meaning it would be more like $225 apiece.

-Farmers Markets

I think this is really the ideal solution for our household. We can support local farms, pick and purchase exactly what we want and do so on a weekly basis. Being in Somerville, I’m pretty fortunate to have some great farmers markets in my neighborhood. We have:

Davis Sqaure Farmers Market on Wednesdays, May-October from 12-6 PM. This one works for me because I work weekends but have Wednesdays off.

Union Square Farmers Market on Saturdays, June 7^th through October 25^th from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

For more information on farmers markets, check out this site: http://www.massfarmersmarkets.org/

Dining Out

With my lifestyle, dining out is more of a norm than an exception. The great news, for me, is that dining out is a really easy way to go local. In Somerville, we are blessed with some terrific cuisine. And what a variety! We have everything from pub fare to Ethiopian Cuisine to Brazillian BBQs. I recently tried out a couple new restaurants:

Catalina la Mexicana

This business is such a great story in so many ways. For 13 years, Robert Rendon has been operating Taqueria la Mexicana in Union Square. He recently purchased the building they occupied and expanded his business. To do his expansion and remodeling, he hired Kimo Griggs Architecture and Other City Builders, both local businesses. Other City Builders is owned by one of the owners of Sherman Café, also in Union Square. As a result of the income from this project, Sherman Café will be expanding and launching The Sherman Market, an all natural foods store. This is yet another compelling example of local businesses supporting each other, and reinvesting in their community.

Now, here’s some more info about the restaurant. The food was great, and I hear they have just launched a new restaurant menu that promises to be even more delicious! They are still in the early stages of this type of business, so they are learning. We went on Cinco de Mayo and they were swamped with customers. But that said, I watched as, time after time, Robert and his staff greeted customers with a warm and accommodating manner. I predict great things for this new business!

Rodizio

Rodizio is a new Brazilian BBQ restaurant in East Somerville. I was lucky enough to be able to check this spot out with one of the editors from the Weekly Dig. If you’ve never been to this type of place, you HAVE to go, and believe me, bring you’re appetite! They have a buffet of sides from which you can choose. Then, they have roving table service for their many meat delicacies. When we were there, they had: Pork (my favorite), Beef, Chicken, Chicken Hearts (tried it, not my favorite), and two types of sausage. I also think they have fish and other specialties from time to time.

Slip Ups

Each week I will also, in the interest of full disclosure, talk about any rule breaking that I’ve done.

Rule #1 – Shop at locally owned businesses

I’m happy to report that at no time did I break Rule #1. I stayed local all the way.

Rule #2 – Purchase products made as close to home as possible

I did ok on this one, but this definitely takes more research and time. I’ll write more about this in a future post.

Rule #3 – Spend my money with Somerville businesses.

I did ok on this one as well. I had one meal outside of Somerville this week (peer pressure can be tough). I also had a couple of drinks at some spots in the South End and Downtown. I know there are a lot of places to do that in Somerville, but I have some bartender friends I wanted to visit, and we all know it’s cool, for multiple reasons, to know the bartender. Plus the lunch time issues I mentioned above. I’m going to try to be more disciplined this week. Other than that, I have been able to find my day to day items in Somerville regularly.

Challenges

One of the challenges I have faced in my first week is lunch. I work at my day job which is about 2 miles from Somerville, in Arlington. I have been great at keeping it local for lunch (mostly takeout from locally owned restaurants in Arlington), but have been having a hard time following Rule 3 and keeping my money in Somerville. This week, I’m going to try to pack a lunch and see how that works. I will say I’ve tried this in the past and haven’t had the discipline to stick with it, so wish me luck!

Next week

For the next edition, I’ll be writing more about my local food experiences. Also, I will be including a fabulous new drink recipe called the Local Vodka Cocktail, a mixture made up of all local components. As always, please add your comments, thoughts and suggestions.

Locally Yours,

Joe G.

Welcome to a bold new experiment. For the next 90 days, I will be borrowing a chapter from Morgan Spurlock and his 30 days concept (if you haven’t seen Super Size Me, you really should). In Spurlock’s experiment, he chose to eat only McDonalds for a month straight, every meal. Somerville Local First is all about spending our money locally. So, for the next three months, I will try to do 100% of my spending at locally owned, independent businesses.

Before we get started, let me say that I am not perfect. I am not 100% sustainable in my lifestyle, nor will I be at the conclusion of this experiment. I don’t expect to be able to spend all of my money in Somerville or at locally owned businesses for that matter. But this is all about being on a path: I may not be there today, but I’d like to be, I’m trying to be, and I’d like you to join me.

The intent behind this project is to learn about what a typical 20-Something (soon to be 30-Something, but that’s another story all together) can do to go local. I basically have two full time jobs and I work almost every day. I mention this, not to boast , but because one of the main reasons I hear people don’t shop locally is because they don’t have the time. Well, if I can find time to do it working 80 hours per week, you probably can as well.

Also, I’ve heard a lot about shopping locally being more expensive. Well, during this experiment I’ll attempt to track my spending and compare it (when possible) to alternative non-local businesses. At the end of the three months, I should have a good sense of any true financial difference.

Finally, I have established some rules for the experiment. These rules are meant to guide me, and to inform you, of how I’m going about my choices. Here they are:

Rule #1: If I spend money it must be at a locally-owned business, if at all possible.
Rule #2: I will favor products that are made locally. In other words, if I can get a beer brewed in Massachusetts, I should do so over a beer brewed outside the state. If I can find a beer brewed in Eastern Massachusetts, I should do so over a beer brewed in Western Massachusetts.
Rule #3: I will attempt to spend my money at Somerville businesses first, whenever possible.

I hope you will find this experiment interesting, engaging and thought provoking. Most importantly, I hope you’ll consider how you could make these same everyday choices and help us build a truly vibrant local economy and sustainable community.

Locally Yours,
Joe G.