Become a Localvore

Read about the Rutland Area Localvore's 2010 Thanksgiving Challenge Here!

Eat Local Challenges
Many area Localvore groups spearhead "Eat Local Challenges" for their communities. In a "Challenge" participants agree to eat only foods grown within 100 miles of home for a day, week, or month. Some people make exceptions for spices and leaveners (like yeast). Some also take "wildcards" for non-local foods that life is miserable without. Coffee is popular. An Eat Local Challenge is a powerful learning tool for exploring the diversity of local foods in our region. It's a way to break from our routines and learn what more is possible. 

The Rutland Area Localvores
The Rutland Area Localvores play an active role in supporting the community to increase the amount of local food they eat everyday. At the beginning of each season, the Localvores gather for a potluck dinner to learn more about promoting local food within their families, schools and communities. Localvores participate in the successful Friday Night Live events in downtown Rutland, and have been featured on PEG-TVs What’s Cooking Rutland television show. The Rutland Herald has done stories on the Rutland Localvore movement, including the highly popular series of articles written by editor Randal Smathers about his own Localvore challenge. Members of the Rutland Area Localvores are regularly asked to speak to area high school and college students, and they work closely with the Rutland Natural Food Market: The Co-op to provide education and support to community members interested in learning more about local food.

Just as there is no one reason for becoming a Localvore, there is no one way to be one.

All members of the Rutland Area Localvores have their own personal reasons for making local food a significant part of their regular diet  - from health to a personal commitment to sustainable lifestyles, from a desire to support the local economy to a commitment to the future of agriculture in the state.  And each member has their own way of being a Localvore. Some take the Localvore Challenge and eat nothing but local food for a finite period of time - a day, a week,  or even just a meal. Most embed the values and the joys of eating locally into their every day diets, choosing ingredients based on where they are grown or produced. It is not unusual to see Localvores choosing to buy only local milk, eggs, cheese, meats or grains, and selecting produce based on seasonal availability. As one Rutland Area Localvore said, “I decide what I am going to eat based on what is available, and I am always pleasantly surprised to find good fresh food to feed my family and support my community!” 
 
To get more information about the Rutland Area Localvores, please email cztashie@yahoo.com.