Why Local Food Movements Make Sense

The local food movement makes sense.

Each time a new food contamination news story breaks, we realize how vulnerable we are, and so the local food movement makes sense for our health.

Because locally produced food is better for the population as a whole, it makes sense economically.

And because local food producers are more concerned abut the environmental impact of their product - it makes sense for our planet.

Recently, Waynedale Green Alliance sat down with Victoria Wesseler, the creator of Going Local Indiana, a website dedicated to bringing information concerning local food in Indiana to the viewing public. Here she discussed her creation, concerns about local food, and her vision for further awareness.

ABS) Victoria, why did you originate the Local Food website? Tell us a little bit about you.

GL) After taking early retirement from a business ethics and regulatory compliance consulting business that I founded and ran for twelve years, I wanted to do something totally different with the next phase of my life. Something that combined my love for gardening, food preservation, and cooking and helping people be successful in those pursuits. My friends kept telling me that they loved my homemade food, recipes, and gardening tips and that I should find a way to share that information on a larger scale.

One night on a flight coming back from a business trip in Seattle, I got the idea for a blog site which could be used to do just that. I chose to focus my content on Indiana local food-something I am very passionate about-while still providing the cooking and gardening information. The name "GOING LOCAL" and the logo just came to me. The image of that logo was so clear in my mind and the concept felt so right that I knew I had to pursue it! The site was launched in September 2007.

On GOING LOCAL, visitors get information to help them discover, celebrate, and savor the abundance of Indiana's fresh, in-season, and local foods. It's a community for people who want:

Sources for delicious, healthy, locally grown, and in-season foods.

Information about Indiana farmers, businesses, and individuals who grow, raise, produce, and sell local foods.

Recipes and tips for preparing seasonal dishes that are healthy, quick, easy, and delicious.

To share thoughts, ideas, and experiences for "Going Local" in Indiana.

My goal is for GOING LOCAL to be the "go to" site for Indiana local food lovers. Interestingly enough, I do get quite a few out of state visitors since much of the information about cooking, preserving, and gardening can be useful to anyone. And many of the Indiana producers ship their products around the country so those not living in Indiana can still enjoy many of the great food items that I feature on the site.

ABS) 2) What inspired Going Local Week 2008 that begins on August 31 through September 6?

GL) I wanted to get the general public more informed about the many benefits of eating local foods and engage them in actively finding resources for local food in their communities. I was especially interested in the segment of the market that isn't already going to farms, farmers' markets, and other local food sellers for their weekly groceries. So, I thought that a statewide event with a lot of media coverage and community events held by local chefs, producers, markets, and retail shops would be fun and informative and reach a wider diversity of consumer than the GOING LOCAL site was reaching. I developed the event concept and was fortunate enough to get Purdue University New Ventures Team, Office of Building Better Communities at Ball State, Indiana Cooperative Development Center, and the Purdue Extension to lend support with the publicity and encouraging events in the community through the Purdue Educators. It's going to be fun to see what people come up with to celebrate the week.

ABS) Where can a consumer go to get fresh local tomatoes close to the Waynedale area?

GL) There are so many good producers that I'm hesitant to pick just one out for fear of showing favoritism or omitting another good one! So, I would suggest that anyone looking for fresh produce in his/her community, use some of the resources that we have for them on the GOING LOCAL site (www.goinglocal-info.com ) including Indiana Market Maker (http://in.marketmaker.uiuc.edu/ ) which is a searchable database that allows a person to search for a number of local food items and producers by city, county, and statewide and the recently releases Indiana Department of Agriculture's 2008 Farmers' Market, U-Pick, and Agritoursim Directory (http://www.in.gov/isda/files/AgDirectory_smallfile.pdf ).

ABS) Can you tell us about a great local food chef in the Waynedale segment of Fort Wayne?

GL) Again, I am reluctant to pick just one for fear of showing favoritism or omitting someone!

ABS) How about a summer recipe that is loaded with local foods?

GL) There are some great recipes on the GOING LOCAL site and I love them all. But one that uses a lot of fresh from the garden vegetables and is great with anything grilled-local beef, chicken, pork or fish and even scrambled eggs-is ratatouille. Ratatouille is a traditional comfort food from the Provence region of France and is made with zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, bell peppers, onion, garlic, and fresh basil. It's perfect to make this time of year because it uses vegetables that are so abundant right now in our home gardens and Farmers' Markets.

Like so many traditional regional dishes, there are as many variations of the dish as there are those who cook it. Some like to cook all of the vegetables together at the same time in the skillet preferring the vegetables to be meltingly soft in the final dish. I prefer to separately cook each vegetable and mix them together in the end to retain a bit of individuality for each ingredient. Some add thyme, basil, and parsley. I prefer only basil. Some use the Italian eggplant. I prefer the slim Japanese eggplants which always seem more tender to me. It's a dish that is simple to make, allows for plenty of creativity (you can vary the amounts of ingredients depending on your personal preferences), and only gets better after a day or two in the refrigerator. And it's so pretty with all those colorful vegetables and good for you. How perfect is that?

I make a lot of it in the summer and freeze it in one cup portions so I can enjoy it in the winter.

Ratatouille

2 small Japanese eggplants

2 small zucchini

2 small yellow crookneck squash

2 small red, yellow, or orange bell peppers

1 medium yellow onion

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 cup diced fresh Roma tomatoes (I leave the peels on and don't seed them. But you can peel the tomatoes and de-seed them if you prefer.)

cup water

2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves

Cut eggplants, zucchinis, yellow squashes, bell peppers and onion into 1/2-inch dice.

In a large heavy skillet cook eggplant in 1 tablespoon oil over moderate heat, stirring, until tender and slightly browned on the edges. Transfer to a bowl.

In the same skillet add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and cook zucchini and yellow squash, over moderate heat, until tender and slightly browned on the edges. Transfer to the bowl with the eggplant.

In the same skillet, add one tablespoon of the olive oil and cook the bell peppers until they are tender and slightly brown around the edges. Transfer to the eggplant mixture bowl.

In the same skillet, add the remaining tablespoon of the olive oil and cook the onions until they are tender and slightly brown around the edges.

Deglaze the skillet with the tomatoes and the water.

Add the garlic to the tomatoes. Cook, stirring constantly, for one minute. Transfer to bowl with eggplant mixture.

Gently stir all vegetables with a rubber spatula to blend. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Let the ratatouille sit, covered, for an hour.

Sprinkle with the fresh basil and serve at room temperature.

Makes 4 side dish servings.

Note: Ratatouille makes a great side dish for chicken, beef, pork, or fish. Try serving the ratatouille over whole wheat ziti, whole wheat couscous, or brown rice for a vegetarian dish. It also makes a nice appetizer served on crackers or grilled bread.

Recipe by Victoria Wesseler.

For more summer recipes and information about Indiana local food, visit www.goinglocal-info.com .

ABS) Is local food REALLY better? And why?

GL) It really is better in so many ways! Think about this--We have grown so distant from our food. We generally know very little about the food we buy or consume. What an act of faith it is each day to put into our bodies and those of our loved ones foods that we know so little about. Where did it come from? How was it grown? How was it handled? How was it stored and processed? How was it shipped? Is it really safe to eat? More and more of us want answers to those questions. And the answer is to eat local food whenever possible.

Eating local food is good for us, good for our local economies, and good for the environment. In the process we improve not only our lives but enhancing the economies of our rural communities. We not only build stronger and healthier bodies, we build a stronger and healthier economy.

When we sustain and nurture ourselves with local foods, we sustain and nurture the world around us. We can do a lot of good by eating well!