100-Mile Diet: Your Body Will Thank You

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From Philadelphia Acorn squash: winter 'war vegetable' Because local also means nutritious. By Jeff NieldPublished: January 4, 2007 TheTyee.ca It's war vegetable season. That's the way James MacKinnon saw the winter months when he and Alisa Smith set out to eat a 100-Mile Diet of local foods in 2005. MacKinnon had once worked with an organic farmer who'd been a child in Europe during the Second World War. The farmer could remember walking the railway tracks to find vegetables that might have fallen off of passing trains: turnips, onions, potatoes, maybe cabbage. Tough foods for hard times. Is eating locally through the winter more a matter of survival than of pleasure or good health? The surprising answer is an emphatic "no." Vancouver-based registered holistic nutritionist Paula Luther is an adherent

of year-round local eating for the sake of nutrition. "If we look at what's in abundance right now, we have lots of squash, carrots, things like that, which are actually beneficial at this time of year," she says. These winter foods are rich in beta-carotene, antioxidants, vitamin A -- just the sort of nutrients our bodies need to fight off colds and maintain energy levels for the season. 100-Mile Recipes: Winter Veggies Birgitta Hellman is a Vancouver chef and home caterer dedicated to cooking with whole foods. Her experiences as a demonstration chef at Capers Community Market convinced her to write and self-publish a cookbook, Taste This: Ordinary Ingredients, Extraordinary Flavours (2006). Below are a couple of recipes from her book that feature winter ingredients; with slight substitutions, each can be made entirely with local ingredients. For more information, visit

www.birgittahellman.com. VERY "BEETY" BORSCH Many people avoid using beets because they don't know how to prepare them. Fresh beets taste sweet and earthy and are great in soups, roasted, or grated raw in salads. This recipe is vegetarian and gluten free, vegan if omitting sour cream. Serves 6 - 8 3 tbsp. vegetable oil1 large yellow onion, chopped1 tbsp. minced garlic4 large beets, peeled and chopped2 large carrots, chopped3 stalks of celery, chopped4 medium potatoes, chopped½ a medium white cabbage, finely chopped4 cups (950 ml) vegetable stock4 cups (950 ml) water4 tbsp. apple cider vinegarSalt and pepper to taste In a large soup pot, over medium heat:SAUTÉ onion and garlic in oil for 3 minutesADD beets, carrots, celery and potatoesCONTINUE to SAUTÉ for 5 minutesADD vegetable stock and water (liquid should cover veggies)BRING to a

gentle boil and then REDUCE heatSIMMER for 30 minutesADD cabbage and SIMMER another 20 minutesREMOVE from heatSEASON with apple cider vinegar, salt and pepperSERVE with a tablespoon of sour cream in each bowl APPLE FILLED ACORN SQUASH WITH MAPLE LEMON GLACE Serve as a main course to your vegetarian friends, or as a side dish with grilled chicken or fish. Be sure to overfill the acorn rings as the filling shrinks when cooked. Vegetarian and gluten free; replace butter with a non-dairy spread for a vegan version. Serves 4 - 8 PREHEAT oven to 350˚F (180˚C) FILLING1 medium yellow onion, diced1 medium parsnip, peeled and cut into small cubes1 small rutabaga, peeled and cut into small cubes2 Jonagold apples, cored and cut into small cubes4 tbsp. butter, melted2 tsp. fresh rosemary, finely choppedSalt and pepper to taste In a large

bowl:MIX all vegetables and applesADD melted butter (save a bit for brushing on the squash)SEASON with rosemary, salt and pepperTOSS well and SET aside 8 one-inch-thick (2.5 cm) unpeeled acorn squash rings, seeded (3 large acorns) GLAZE2 tbsp. maple syrup (local substitutes include bigleaf maple syrup or honey)2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice (or substitute something "lemony" like lemon balm with apple cider vinegar, or a tart white wine) GARNISH½ cup (120 ml) hazelnuts, chopped ARRANGE squash rings on a baking sheet lined with parchment paperBRUSH with melted butterSPRINKLE with salt and pepperSCOOP filling into centre of rings (overfill)BAKE for 30 minutes. REMOVE from oven. DRIZZLE with glazeBAKE another 15 minutes or until squash is doneSET aside to cool for 10 minutesTRANSFER squash rings with filling to plates, using a spatulaGARNISH with

hazelnuts Heavy mileage Luther estimates that 50 per cent of her diet is derived from local sources through the cold, wet months. "It's a bit more of a challenge because I'm vegan, so I'm not eating locally raised beef or seafood," explains Luther. Instead, Luther combines whole grains and legumes to create complete proteins. Both of these foods typically travel to B.C. from the Prairies or points more distant, though both can -- and historically have -- been cultivated on the coast. Luther hopes that the current interest in local foods will lead a local producer to realize the opportunity. Of course, most North Americans are accustomed to walking into the grocery store and purchasing whatever foods they like without any seasonal interruptions. This is one of the biggest selling points of the industrial food system. It

comes at a price, however -- a peach in the local supermarket this time of year has literally travelled from the other side of the world, where the Southern Hemisphere is enjoying midsummer. Producing and transporting the peach will consume many more calories of energy, most of them burned as fossil fuels, than the fruit itself will provide to the person who eats it. According to Andy Jones, the author of Eating Oil: Food in a Changing Climate, a typical calorie of food energy in the industrial food system will require ten calories of input energy. In an extreme example, it takes 127 calories of energy from aviation fuel alone to deliver one calorie of iceberg lettuce to the U.K. from the United States. Spice of variety Peter H

 

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