A Whole New Local

So, here's the thing, my 4YO is going to be out of school in mid May, but until then he's in school for 3 hours a day. My 2YO naps two hours a day...sometimes. My 9MO is sort of thinking about maybe starting to sleep through the night pretty soon. So you can see that I have a lot of free time lately and I wasn't sure what on earth I was going to fill it with. So, we're moving.

An important side effect to this decision is that my whole radius of local is going to change in May. Balance Rock Farm, formerly my hot spot for locally and responsibly produced meat products, open M-F but not on Thursday when my in-laws have the boys, balanced because they have one candy product for every one meat product, is now going to be a 25 minute drive instead of a 16 minute drive. That may not seem like much to the average Joe, but remember I'm coordinating five here. I can't go on Thursdays or during the baby's first nap or during the baby's second nap or during the 2YOs nap which happens after the baby's first nap and during the first 30 minutes of the baby's second nap. I can't go in the morning when I'm dropping the 4YO off at school or around noon when I'm picking him up from school, or at 4:30 when I'm making dinner. After school gets out for the summer I think there's a 56 minute window between breakfast, first nap and lunch when I can maybe slip out with all three kids in tow and drive down there. Assuming, of course, no one poops. Then I lose 4 minutes and it just can't be done.

I have to admit, though that I'm excited to find some new local sources. Kiwi Magazine's website has this great tool where you can put in your zip code and it will help you find local Farms, Stores and Restaurants and it has a good list for me to work on as soon as we're settled. That should get me started in locating the local meat, eggs, and honey that we have grown accustomed to. And with Spring starting it will be nice to get some fresh fruit that hits a little closer to home then Chile. Oh, about that...

I have been buying fruit from Chile. This is a total cop-out on the local front. I'm slightly ashamed but only slightly. I've come to the conclusion that local is a great idea but in practice, in Massachusetts in the winter, it's impossible. My kids will not eat canned or frozen fruit. They will not eat 90% of all cooked vegetables. I've tried serving them over and over and over and over. Even if it is environmentally and morally wrong, I just can't stop buying fresh Chilean blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. I don't know where my fresh green beans come from but I know that once I've engaged my son in a crunching contest (thanks Nanna) he'll chomp them right down. This question that I've posed in my blog title turned out to be more about a family of five having a healthy and nutritious diet more than could I actually find products in a local and responsible way. The answer is unfortunate from my perspective.

I need my kids to eat healthy fruits and vegetables.
I need them to eat them all year long.
I feel I have no choice but to buy them and serve them.

Is this awful? Can I balance out the awful by dedicating myself to buying local produce the second it becomes available in my area? They have carbon offset credits, how about local offset credits. I mean, let's face it, I've never really checked a label before in my life until I started this blog. Now I look at them ALL THE TIME. I've become more conscientious of where my food is coming from and what it contains then ever before in my life. Does this make up for the fact that when I can I buy local, when local's not an option I buy organic, and when organic's not an option I buy from Chile? I don't know. The answer does not seem to be in the California chardonnay I'm sipping. Not yet anyway. There's still a good half a bottle left. Maybe the answer's like the prize in the box of cereal...at the bottom. Didn't your mother tell you you couldn't have the prize until you finished the cereal? I better get drinking. I'll let you know.