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What vegetarian locavores eat in the winter

Posted at 7:42 AM on December 1, 2008 by Cher Stuewe-Portnoff (1 Comments)

The veggie and fruit strategy for winter was clear - garden, buy from local farmers, preserve. So much for plans. Ha! The universe had other ideas. Now what?

Here, as with dairy (earlier post), we asked "how locavor-istic we can be in St. Louis in the winter?" How will we integrate this with health and other environmental considerations - e.g., organic farming? Less packaging? (Does a local, but conventionally grown carrot have a smaller or larger carbon footprint than an organically farmed carrot from a neighboring state?)

Looking back, recall our discovery that few market vendors could sell putting-by quantities of produce, and the produce often was not fresh-picked (some folks being up-front, some fudging on pick dates). Big difference from small-town markets. Our garden failed when we discovered that the soil contained coal ash. Given the past year's focus on "local," where does that all leave us?

(1) This year rejuvenated our long-time, but frayed-around-the-edges, habit of eating seasonally. Once again, out-of-season produce looks strangely like plastic flowers - not really appetizing. (Amazing what personal mind games can do.) (2) We've stocked up on local squash, apples, sweet potatoes, onions, to store (wrapped) in a cool, dry place in the basement. (3) We hope for local cold-hardy greens like kale to be intermittently available, or we'll buy these anyway. (4) We used to get through winter by growing (and selling) sprouts; unpacked the jars and caps a few days ago - bean sprouts, lentil sprouts, radish sprouts... yum. (5) Where we'll stray - canned tomatoes. Once in awhile, a banana or two.

The good news - a beans-and-grain-loving locavore could not live in a better place. Many resources, with one favorite, Kimker Hill Farm in St. Clair, selling through the winter at Maplewood's once-a-month market and Tower Grove's Local Harvest Grocery. Favorites: red lentils, cleaned, certified organic, $3.75 a pound (expensive, yes); black beans and corn meal; multigrain pancake mix (a mix, but oddly irresistable.) There's every reason to be 100% locavore for beans and whole grains in Missouri, if you can afford it. Also, as little as we bake any more, my freezer stash of Oklahoma whole grain flour will probably get us through most of the winter.

The coming week's discussion around the table: meat consumption increased in 2008 - a local staple we could count on, even when other local items were few and far between. Positives: tastes better, healthier, the animals live better, than was true for grocery store meat, which we'd opted out of. Negatives: Costly, and it's still meat - a health issue for us, a quality-of-life issue for the animals. We're thinking it over.

Comments (1)

Dear Cher,

I have been so inundated with conflict in regards to this meat versus carb versus veggies versus who knows what else. One of the big issues regarding meat consumption was the killing of animals in horrific living and dying conditions, it seems to me that no one who is informed could really, in good conscience eat an animal that was bred, born, lived and died in such immoral conditions.

Then there is the research that says we are all killing ourselves not from fat and meat like was previously thought, now it is all carbs....yes between the blood type diet, the latest cardiac research and who knows what else we are killing ourselves with wheat. I have friends who have actually decided that to eat white flour is better for their blood type than whole grains and the bloating and ickiness of middle age was related to eating tomatoes and shrimp. I never thought i would be confused about food, it seems to me that if it is grown in an ethical organic manner with little interference from processing facilities that we would be good to go.....We ate a vegetarian diet happily for years (if we had an urge for meat we gave in to that since the point was not to be religious just responsible).

The low to no fat argument never made sense to me.

We are enjoying occasional organic meat, I know the people that raise the animals....I know how they are killed....I am aware that maybe these are self serving arguments....

I have seen very little research discussing whole grain carbs....is there a differance....I always thought so.....It makes me very unhappy to think that I am prematurely aging and getting a hefty middle from eating whole grain bread..(okay maybe the lack of excercise and large servings have something to do with it....I honestly think I do not eat that much...usually:))

Eating locally does limit choices in some pretty significant ways, it was easy to feel virtuous eating a large organic California salad every night.......

We are only a state or two over, if you need any help let us know.

Best regards, Vera

Posted by vera schabicki | December 15, 2008 9:43 PM