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Of Babes and changes: Locavore phase 2

Posted at 3:25 PM on July 18, 2008 by April Luginbuhl

Wow. My son is a month old. I can't even begin to describe the changes that have happened in the last month. I knew having a child would change my life, but I don't suppose anyone is ever able to imagine all the possible ways life can change. In terms of food, I've been surprised that eating local got easier with the baby, not harder as I had thought it might. In that spirit, I see my locavore habits as entering a second phase.

The first phase was my own weaning from my comfortable habits in Columbus where my late spring/summer/early fall diet was easily 60-80% local and about 70% vegetarian/vegan. The move took us away from that comfort zone, and made it clear how difficult it can be to eat local when starting with little knowledge of the area or local providers. In the first phase I was successful in finding all the pre-packaged and supermarket local varieties, along with some the artesian and local meats, cheeses, and other dairy products. Our diet dipped to between 40-50% local and more like 25% vegetarian.

I realize now that a lot of my cooking habits during that time, especially how meat-centered they were, had to do with me being pregnant. Now that I'm not pregnant, I realize how tired I was. Cooking meat is easier for me. It requires less creativity in the kitchen. I realize in hindsight, I wasn't feeling all that creative during the last few months of pregnancy. Between the move and everything else, I think being tired was reasonable.

But now we are in phase two. Phase two involves me no longer working all day at my desk, but spending all day caring for my baby. Going out during the day is more of a production, but also more necessary. And, in addition to the house restrictions on poultry and other allergen foods, I'm no longer eating dairy due to Sam's milk protein intolerance (which is common in new babies). So the rules and context around food has changed slightly.

The geography has changed too. Now that I'm a mom who stays home all day, in a city I barely know, I need to get out and make new contacts. This week I tried a couple of mom's groups, and both were great. One is for breastfeeding moms and also happens to be only a couple of blocks from a farmers market and from a natural foods store. All of the sudden, distance to the market is no longer an issue. Yes the market is still a half hour from my house, but now it is part of a trip to go to mom's group, and the natural foods store. Now going to the market is easy. Ah the difference a baby makes :-). Also, we found a CSA that drops off right next to my husband's work. While we keep missing the weekly payment deadline, I think in the next couple of weeks we'll have it all sorted out. Everything still seems to take longer than I think it should!

By August we should have local produce readily available through the CSA and access to a farmer's market already. That's about two-three months later than I wanted, but better late than never. As I take stock of the situation, I realize that whether someone is starting local for the first time, or trying to find the local foods in a new area, it does take time. In my mind it is better to make the effort and get there a bit late than to not make the effort at all. I'm looking forward to a happy August harvest!