Yes, Virginia, There Is a Potluck

Sometime during my backpack-and-lunchbox days, I learned the meaning of the words omnivore, carnivore, and herbivore. Many years later, in 2005, a clever person coined the word “locavore” to describe a person who seeks to eat food that is grown and produced locally, and in 2007 the New Oxford American Dictionary selected “locavore” as its word of the year.

People have been primarily locavores since the beginning of time, but as a result of globalization, food now travels an average of 1500 miles to reach the plates of North Americans. By contrast, locavores eat foods that are grown or produced within a relatively small radius, whether 50, 100, or 150 miles.

During the past several months, I’ve read quite a few books about food:

• “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life” by Barbara Kingsolver (my top recommendation)
• “Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally” by Alisa Smith and J.B. Mackinnon (founders of the 100-Mile Diet)
• “Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal” by Eric Schlosser
• “The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals” by Michael Pollan
• “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto” by Michael Pollan

Thanks to these authors and the locavores I know personally, I’m becoming a locavore too… at least in theory.

August 3-9, 2008 is Virginia Farmers Market Week, and the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is encouraging Virginians to choose one day during that week to eat only food grown in Virginia.

Of course, for me, Virginia-grown is not necessarily the same as local, as there are certainly locations in neighboring states that are closer than parts of my own state, but legalistic is the last thing I want to be when it comes to food. The map below shows the area my food could come from if I were following the 100-Mile Diet. You can see your 100-mile radius area by entering your zip code into the nifty little mapping tool on the 100-Mile Diet site.

I’m not sure yet which day next week will be my Virginia-only day, but I’ve decided to host a local foods potluck at my house on Wednesday evening… and I’m calling it “Yes, Virginia, There Is a Potluck.”

Not every ingredient needs to originate in the Commonwealth of Virginia, but every dish should at least feature locally grown or produced food. If you’d like to come to “Yes, Virginia, There Is a Potluck” and you haven’t gotten an email from me with the details, either send me an email (if we’re already friends) or leave a comment here (if you’d like to be friends). You don’t have to be a locavore or a gourmet chef; the only requirement is that you like to eat good, local food!