Locavores

Since reading Omnivore's Dilemma this fall, I've been more tuned in to the "local food" scene. I'm fortunate to live in a place where not only is that possible most of the year, but lots of other people are interested in it too.

Thus: Austin Eat Local Week. They've got a bevy of local joints participating, a local farms Bike Tour (that I'm actually missing right now, sadly) and several other events throughout the week.

JAM and I started off the week right with a basket from Farmhouse Delivery (sadly, without any bread from {name of amazing secret bread lady withheld})[1]. The produce was great:

We hastily converted much of it to calories in the form of dinner, including the giant mutant radishes:

It does not escape me that this bounty comes to us in freaking December. But as if to prove that, even here, we are not exempt from the seasons, we actually got freezing temperatures and a frost last night:

This morning, the dawg and I hit Boggy Creek Farm (about 6 minutes drive from our house) and collected some eggs, sweet potatoes, and other goodies. Boggy creek is beautiful, and especially nice to visit during a week when everyone has the local food chain on their minds.

Hope we can make it to several other Austin farms and restaurants this week to enjoy the bounty of locally grown food.

By the way - all the proceeds from Eat Local Week events go to support Urban Roots, a non-profit that my friend Mike runs. They take inner city kids and put them on farms, where they are immediately eaten by wild boars, or something. Seriously, they're a totally awesome cause, so check them out as well.

Now then. Anyone have any idea how I can get local Pop Tarts?


[1] - The bread from the amazing secret bread lady is so amazing that I can't tell you about because if anyone else finds out how awesome it is, we'll never be able to get any. But you can find her goods at Dai Due and East Side Showroom.