This morning, as I walked to the office, instead of driving, I was listening to the latest podcast from The Splendid Table (www.splendidtable.publicradio.org ). This is one of my favorite podcasts, but this morning was more special to me than usual. For one year now, the goal of fifteen selected volunteers from all over the country was to get 80 percent of their food from local sources that were preferably organic. Interviews with the participants made it quite clear that this had been quite a challenge. What was heartening was how this had changed the lifestyle of many of them. They had to learn what was available in their community. They became more involved in home vegetable gardening. And they learned to cook more creatively, as they cooked with what they had, not what a recipe called for – we should do more of this.

Lynne’s next interview was with Barbara Kingsolver, author of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. If you have not read this book, you must! Barbara and her family embraced a rural lifestyle and only bought food raised locally or food they grew themselves. This has been one of my favorite books. Back in the 70′s my husband and I contemplated this kind of lifestyle, but never followed through with it.

What both of these women emphasize is the importance of fresh, local and organic products. What we can do, is to take small spots throughout our yards to grow our own organic produce. It can be as simple as a few radishes, carrots and lettuces in a pot to a 100-foot row of potatoes. We are fortunate here in north Texas. We can be planting many of these vegetables very soon. I will keep you posted.

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