Localvore Challenge: Day 2

By Lisa Shames in Food on Sep 12, 2007 4:00PM

Here’s a question for you: If politicians can use the “I didn’t inhale” line when asked about past drug use and the military can hide behind its “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” slogan, can localvores get away with eating non-local foods if they don’t swallow? OK, mind out of the gutter, please, and Chicagoist isn’t referring to the chew-and-spit diet featured on a Sex in the City episode. Instead, what we were hoping was to get ‘permission’ to chew gum.

Here’s what else comes to mind after Day 2 of the Green City Market Localvore Challenge:

• Chicagoist isn’t craving chocolate anymore—well, at least not to distraction—but is definitely hoping to find some allowed sweets at today’s Green City Market.
• That it’s a good thing we don’t mind having the same foods—scrambled eggs with Wisconsin cheese for breakfast; grass-fed lamb with roasted potatoes and onions with a green salad (note to self: add balsamic vinegar to exemption list) for lunch (see photo); and an apple for dinner—two days in a row.
• That cooking for one is just as tiresome when you eating a localvore meal as a regular one, hence last night’s apple for dinner.
• That while initially we thought the Localvore Challenge would mean we would be spending more on food, the opposite just might happen. But that’s because our usual treats—latte and biscotti at Intelligentsia, for example—are off limits.
• That just because it’s local doesn’t mean it tastes better. Case in point: The mealy peaches we bought at Whole Foods.
• That while we saw a banner at the Whole Foods on Huron in the produce section promoting local products, all we could find were the above-mentioned peaches. We did, however, buy some great Wisconsin cheese and was told by the butcher that they’re working on finding some local meat options.
• That in order to do this for any length of time learning how to cook—or start dating a chef—would be a really good idea.

To be continued...