Good Eats - Page by Page | Chapter Six - Part One

Welcome back to my chapter-by-chapter review of The Weekend Homesteader by Anna Hess! Last time, we talked about rain barrels! Now it is time to move on to the next chapter and section - eating seasonally!

Eating more natural foods (the term “natural” including aspects such as local, organic, and in-season) has been a goal of mine for a long time. Going au naturale will be a definite improvement from my current go-to snacks and will also benefit my physical/mental health (which is a big part of my 5-year-plan). This endeavor will require time, patience, and dedication because of my ingrained eating habits, but thankfully this chapter was a good starting point.

The first part of the chapter dedicates itself towards explaining the importance of eating in season and I’m assuming that many people here can guess most of the reasons - you’ll eat healthier, spend less money, support small/local businesses/farms, utilize less resources (transportation), etc. So the list of positives far outweighs the list of negatives.

Once you decide to eat in season, you have to find out where you can find in season food! The author includes a quick list of ideas including:

• Straight from the farm
• Farmer’s markets
• CSA “Community Supported Agriculture”
• Produce/fruit stands

She also recommend looking online for local spots using LocalHarvest, the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, and/or EatWellGuide.

The easiest for me will be searching the local co-op, which tends to carry in season and locally produced products, as well as the farmer’s market held in our town square. Before moving about a year and a half ago, my family lived within walking distance of the square yet we never really went to the farmer’s market. I feel bad for not taking advantage of our great situation when we had the chance. At least the place we live now has more yard space for us to garden and grow our own food!

Fortunately, the family member I will be staying with in Minneapolis is really into healthy eating, yoga, mindfulness, etc. I am going to use my time staying with him as a starting point - to learn how he transitioned from a “normal grocery store diet” to the one he sticks to today. I hope to learn more about living well and I hope to teach him more about living well sustainably (aka reducing plastic use). I think it will be a great experience that may prove beneficial for us both!