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Slow but adventurous start

Posted at 9:59 AM on January 21, 2008 by Cher Stuewe-Portnoff

Our first intentionally local meal - we pick up our 2nd-grade granddaughter from school, then on to her house to get dinner on the table. Daughter/working mom Mista arrives home about 6, with two starving toddlers. After unbundling everyone, Mista whips out her note pad to rate the taste and localness of the evening’s meal. (Smile.) A couple of nights later, we were combining groceries with son Randall’s family for a birthday dinner.

Each meal so far has included some local produce – butternut squash, cauliflower, an apple – and homemade quick bread made from locally grown and milled “white wheat” (not bleached) flour. The main feature in each meal has been a native Oklahoma meat unfamiliar to most of us – buffalo. These roam the western Oklahoma prairie, feeding on native grasses supplemented with minerals and hay – no hormones, growth stimulants, animal byproducts in feed, or feedlots are involved. We pay about $4.70/lb. for ground buffalo, which we’ve now used in a casserole and as grilled patties. Years ago, I recall South Dakota buffalo tasting gamey. This was lean, juicy, flavorful buffalo. High praise from two of the more “selective” adult eaters: “It’s good -- serve it again, but don’t tell me first the next time.” “It tastes like more expensive ground beef than I can afford.” We like that the buffalo operation is part of a prairie land restoration effort. Not all of us are big meat eaters, but this turns out to be a pretty good resource.

For dessert, warm butterscotch pudding, to get that little box out of my cupboard. Until we use what we’ve got, we’re planning to get at least one local ingredient into our dishes and to be mindful about the others. We’re also taste-testing resources, with lots of different individuals to feed. Whew!

Insight #1: We’re likely to reach 80% of the food budget being spent on local foods sooner than we achieve local production of 80% of what goes on the table. At least this is proving true while we get our bearings here.