Eat Local Challenge: Eating Locally While On The Road

You know, it really isn’t easy eating locally while on a cross-country trip.

Especially if you are traveling with a two-year-old.

So, I have to admit to the fact that we stopped at a McDonald’s somewhere in Pennsylvania to get Kat some fries as well as to give us all a chance to stretch our legs.

But one does what one must sometimes.

Needless to say, after two days of driving, we are here at Lake Winnipesaukee, and Kat is settling in pretty well. Tomorrow, Zak and I will be striking out for two whole days on our own, to a bed and breakfast called Bear Mountain Lodge in Bethlehem, New Hampshire. While on our way to and around the White Mountains, we plan on picking up some local foods such as maple syrup and cheddar cheese, as well as seeking out local restaurants for our meals.

However, I was surprised upon stopping at a rest area in Stockbridge, Massachusetts (yes, the town that Alice Brock and Arlo Guthrie made famous) to find a farm-stand of locally grown fruits, vegetables and herbs just outside of the otherwise corporate food haven. I bought us some truly fine McIntosh apples. Kat, Zak and I enjoyed their tart, flowery flavor and crisp juiciness for the last bit of the drive through Massachusetts and New Hampshire. It was a definite improvement over the french fries, not only in taste and nutritive value, but also when it comes to supporting a local farmer, a local economy and eating in a way that is better for the environment.

Of course, when one is driving across country, it seems silly to worry about eating green when one is spewing carbon monoxide into the air from an internal combustion engine. The irony of those local apples hit home for me while we were stuck in traffic outside of Worcester, Mass.

They still tasted divine, though–crisp and sour-sweet.

Oh, and one more thing–the price of the apples was much higher than I was used to back in Ohio. As I paid for them, I thought to myself that now I understood why some people say local produce is too expensive.

On the other hand, I have noticed that nearly everything up here in New England is more expensive than I am used to in Ohio. (Except for gasoline–it is cheaper here than at home.)

4 Comments

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1. Welcome to New Hampshire!

   Enjoy the foliage and food.

   Comment by Dan Jenkins — October 7, 2008 #

2. Speaking of eating locally, I had the strangest dream that I went to Athens to eat at your restaurant, and you took a bunch of us to your farmer’s market. It was very disappointing, because it was almost closed down and looked like a grocery store. A most peculiar dream.
   I hope you have (had?) a lovely time traveling.

   Comment by Christy — October 14, 2008 #

3. I’ve noticed that about food prices in Indiana also (and cat food, and so on and so on), that prices are generally higher in Indianapolis than in southeastern/central Ohio, except for gas which remains noticeably cheaper than Ohio. I blame the gas tax there. But it is dismaying to see that even at the farmers markets the prices are higher – and there’s only one farmers market in the state that accepts food stamps. One. And it’s in Bloomington, where the main campus of the university is (IU), not in Indianapolis, where a large population of low-income people could actually benefit from their farmers markets.

   Comment by Heather — October 19, 2008 #

4. Yes, its true local produce is expensive. I also had similar experience

   Comment by Julia — October 21, 2008 #

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