So Matt and I are going to attempt to only eat things grown and produced in the state of Washington for the next many months. I am hoping to attain three goals with this effort:

• Increase the amount of delicious, fresh items that show up on our table when it's time to eat. Right now when the hunger hits it usually results in something from a can, a box, or the freezer appearing and then spending a few minutes in the microwave prior to consumption

• Reduce the carbon footprint of our eating.  Along with reducing the amount of fuel used to get these foods to use, we benefit from foods picked more recently, lending us more of their healthy vitaminy goodness.  A good deal all around.

• Lose weight.  I know I need to get up and go to the gym, but eating less fast food and fewer processed items will allow me to have more control over what kinds of foods go into my body, and in what quantities.

There are a number of exceptions we will have to make that we've run across so far: olive oil, balsamic vinegar, spices, and rice.  We will do our best to buy these in ways that are the most beneficial to our world, but they just don't grow around here, and they are mainstays to our eating lives.

Today I hit the Farmers Market on Broadway for our foodstuffs for the week, knowing I can supplement from Pike Place and Whole Foods for some items as needs arise.  Here's what I bought today: two dozen medium organic eggs (from Olympia), a pound of fingerling potatoes, about 2.5 pounds of heirloom tomatoes, two grass-fed frozen beef patties, a big slice of cheese, radishes (normal and the pretty French kind), spinach, some other kind of salad green I'd never heard of with angular leaf edges, baby bok choy, baby garlic stems, green onions, asparagus, and a bunch of flowers. 

I discovered, in an effort not to throw out anything I could eat from the items I bought, that radish greens are spicy and make a tasty addition to salad.  Also, baby bok choy if torn small enough, is a nice addition to a salad since it is still firm but tender.  I am excited to see what I can make with these ingredients.....spinach and cheese omelettes, stir-fry bok choy with garlic and tomato, etc.  Matt is still not eating meat, which means finding enough protein for him will probably entail me buying a fridge full of Beecher's cheese and such, but if he picks up the habit of eating meat again I can find grass-fed beef and pork at the Farmers Market, as well as organic chicken, but the chicken is really only exciting to me since it makes Matt be dead if he eats it.

I don't really know what to expect from this experiment.  It may be that within a week we discover it is just too difficult to do with all the easy temptations around us, or we may discover that food grown locally, organically, and eaten the day it was harvested (or very near to it) spoils us for the cardboard-flavored stuff we pay so much for at the grocery store.  I am going to try and track it some here on my blog for my own purposes, but I welcome suggestions or ideas from any of you who have undertaken this journey before, or who have considered it or know others who have done it.

I am already excited by the three large bags of food I brought home today after spending 1/3 of what I normally spend at QFC for less stuff.  I hope it works out well and becomes a permanent part of our lives.