2007 Localvore Harvest Challenge

Good food and good times during the Harvest Celebration Dinner at Fair Winds Farm to kick-off the 2007 Localvore Harvest Challenge.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE CHALLENGE?

• To eat only locally produced food for the period of the Challenge, Friday, September 21 through Saturday, September 29.

• Within a 100 mile radius of Brattleboro, and including the State of Vermont

• Certainly! Because our purpose is to engage with people, and to encourage them to include more local foods in their diet, we try to make the challenges fun, warm-fuzzy affairs, not hair-shirt exercises in political correctness.
• For example, we encourage people to do their own variation, if they feel they’re not ready for a full-blown challenge—like doing one meal a day that is completely local, or including at least one local item per meal.
• Also, there is the Marco Polo Exception that allows people to include items, like salt or dried spices that could have traveled in the pocket of a sailor for 6 months.
• Then there is the modern-day Marco Polo Exception that also adds baking powder, baking soda, & yeast.
• And there is also the Caffeine Addicted Marco Polo Exception!

Yes, we will again be selling Starter Kits at cost, including items that are hard to find, or will just make the Challenge a more enjoyable event.

Though not finalized, the contents of the Kit should include

• Dried Mushrooms: Davie, Keene, NH
• Sea Salt (3 oz): Maine Sea Salt, Marshfield, ME
• Tempeh (size unknown): Rhapsody Natural Foods, Montpelier, VT
• Herbal Teas (selections): Rebecca Golden, Brattleboro 
• Sunflower Oil (.5 liter): Butterworks Farm, Westfield, VT
• Cider Vinegar (16 oz): Dwight Miller Farm, Dummerston
• Organic Oats (1 lb): Michel Gaudreau, Compton, Quebec, Canada
• Organic WW Bread Flour (2 lbs): Gleason Grains, Bridgeport, VT
• Organic Spelt Flour (1 lb): Basin Farm, Bellows Falls
• Organic Corn Meal (1 lb): Basin Farm, Bellows Falls

The Kits will be sold at cost; however the price is not known at this time as we won’t be getting most items until September.

The Starter Kit can be ordered AFTER AUGUST 1 by contacting Paul Melton pjmeltonhoughton@yahoo,com or (802) 258-9082. A $20 deposit is required.

Pick up dates for the Starter Kits are Sunday, September 9 and Saturday, September 14, at 73 Main St (across from Sam’s, next Windham Gallery). You will be contacted on the times.

There are two ways to get your Starter Kit on Sept 9 and 14: First, to pick up an already put together—this will add $5 to the cost; Second, to put together your own Kit, much as you would do in a buyers’ club.

We will help to organize nightly potlucks in the homes of localvores who volunteer to host such affairs.

These are often the highlights of past challenges for many people, where new folks are met, recipes and other info about local food is exchanged, connections are made, and laughter is endemic.

We’ll add your e-mail address to the localvore listserve so you can learn the details of these, as well as other, events.

The 2007 Challenge will kick-off with a Harvest Celebration dinner at Fair Winds Farm, Upper Dummerston Rd.

The dinner will be prepared by Chef/Owner Tristan Toleno of the Riverview Café and will consist of a variety of meats, potatoes, winter squash, tomatoes, corn (if still available) and green salads, all from Fair Winds and Picadilly Farms.

There will be hayrides, music (Dan MacArthur), and a bonfire.

$16 adults; $8 kids; babes in arms, free; $2 discount for registered localvores

Tickets available during Windham Localvore’s tabling, beginning in mid-August at the Wednesday (11:00-1:00) and Saturday (10:00-2:00) Farmers’ Markets, as well as at the Brattleboro Food Co-op (4:00-7:00) and during the 3 August and 7 September Gallery Walk nights (6:00-8:00) on the Whetstone Path.

Yes, a number of restaurants have indicated that they will feature local entrees on their menu during that week, so we can all have a break from our own localvore labor and efforts. These establishments include:

• Brattleboro Food Co-op Deli
• Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Cafeteria
• Capers Restaurant
• Common Ground Restaurant
• Common Loaf Bakery
• Riverview Café
• 39 Main
• Twilight Tea Lounge

Yes, children from area schools will be participating. Two main activities already underway include

• Having children make a contract that includes a choice of goals: 100 per cent local each day, 5 ingredients per day, 3, 1, or make your own contract.
• Contacting the cafeteria services to see if they can serve as much local food during the Challenge Week as possible.

Several of Laura White’s students are already part of the Childrens’ Localvore committee, making plans.

To learn more, or to get involved, contact Laura White, 4th grade teacher at Green Street School (laura_white@antiochne.edu), or Julianne Eagan, Guilford Central School Health Action Committee parent member, at (802) 257-5810.

We’ll have a celebratory pot luck luncheon at the Kiwanis Shelter, top of Memorial Park, Saturday, September 29, 1:00 PM