2008: The Ecoyear

One of readers wrote about her plans (as a family physician and married mother) to turn 2008 into a search for local foods and start an “ecoyear” blog called www.ecoyear.net. As you'll see from her note below, she has some concerns, but we think it’s going to go swimmingly.

Alisa and I visited the Boulder farmers’ market and walked away with some incredible finds, like heritage Yellow Indian Woman and Cherokee beans, as well as flour and popping corns, and other foods that are completely unfamiliar in our landscape.

When we visited the area last spring, many people in Denver and Boulder told us it would be “impossible” to eat locally where they live, given the high altitude and short growing season. They must have forgotten they were talking to Canadians. Spring in the Colorado Rockies was weeks ahead of even our relatively gentle coastal climate in Vancouver…and we’ve since met people managing to eat locally, and well, in places far, far to the north of us.

Here’s the reader comment: "We are in the planning stages for our 100-Mile Diet. I have read that it can be economically unsustainable, that it can take a lot of time, involve some hunger, and lots of time looking for local staples. With three little boys to feed, and a husband, I cannot afford to have this be a short-lived or a failed experiment. So 2008 is my planning year - I am discovering lots of places to go to find resources that will come in handy. The movement feels like it is about to lift off in the grandest way!"

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James MacKinnon is a noted author and speaks regularly on writing and the politics of consumerism.

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