local food challenge

so! our friend over at crunchy chicken has double-dared her readers and low impact week-ers to another challenge: local food month. here's the official blurb: During the month of July you're going to increase your consumption of locally and sustainably grown food and decrease your consumption of imported and packaged food. You choose the level of participation you want to do. cool! this comes just as animal, vegetable, miracle came up in my library hold queue. it should prove to be a great inspiration as my busiest time of the year comes up at work, and leaves me with a little less willpower, i'm sure, than usual. this book is a non-fiction work by barbara kingsolver (author of the poisonwood bible, notably) about a year their family spent in touch with their own food, eating locally, producing as much of it as possible, and...i guess i'll find out what else. i've only finished the introductory chapters. next? "march: waiting for asparagus." my new vegetarian times came in the mail today, and i threw it on the table and went for this book. that's saying something. what level of "local" will i be shooting for within the challenge? let's see. the "100-mile" provision is kind of out for me, because i have no idea where these small towns in indiana are. i'll do my best to research a little when i get home from the farmer's market, though. let's make a list! excellent: monroe county. counties immediately surrounding or at least close: lawrence, brown, martin, morgan, greene, owen. see how good i'm getting at counties? all right, i totally google imaged a map. but i'm getting better. good: surrounding states: anywhere in indiana, illinois, kentucky, or western ohio. pushing it: great lake states. naughty: the eastern united states outside a day's drive. no way: anything from outside these united states. how's that for local? i may not be completely strict on all of these points. right now, i will absolutely NOT commit to skipping coffee. nooooo. we will buy fair trade, locally-roasted beans. if all else fails, we'll buy from local businesses. and we'll do it all on $70/week. and the new bloomingfoods will be open! oh, be still, my beating stomach! i can't wait to see the bulk section! yeah, i'm a nerd.