The 100-Mile Diet - Alisa Smith and J.B MacKinnon

The 100-Mile Diet A year of Local Eating - Alisa Smith & J.B. MacKinnon (2007)

Well this is the book, that came from the blog that influenced thousands of people across the world to look at where there food came from and to consider eating from local produce and home grown fruit and veges.

I certainly was surprised at the weekend to see the local paper saying that certain members of our community were saying that it is cheaper to eat unhealthy food than healthier options. What a load of rubbish. I think that people have got lazy and that they don't want to spend the time cooking. I think too that we have forgotten what it was like when we were kids. We only got to eat what mum put on the table, we didn't get any choice as kids. Steak, ham and any fancy foods graced our tables only a few times a year, soft drinks and potato chips were only served at birthday, Christmas and New Year. Otherwise we drunk milk or water or cordial. As snacks we were allowed apples or super wine plain biscuits, chocolate was a once a week treat and it was shared between all four of us. Mum was very budget conscious and whatever she had we made do with, lots of veges and little bits of meat. However, we were never hungry, we ate every meal and we grew up and seemed to forget all of these values.

Now with super supermarkets suddenly we are eating strawberries, lettuce and asparagus out of season. Last week I heard the local radio announcer complain that how was she meant to stay on her diet with the price of cucumbers. Lady it has only turned to spring, they are flown thousands of miles, that's why they cost so much. Certainly I was thinking of this book as I bought my out of season nectarines, grapes and plums all Californian grown this week.

Let me state for the record too, that I only have to feed me and one not so fussy cat. I don't have to feed a family of six on a minimum wage. I can only marvel at how some families stay fed, and admire the hard work it must go into putting food on the table.

Anyways the book was an interesting read, it makes you think that before you embarked on trying such a diet that one should check that flour and oil are produced close by.

Certainly I will give this book a high recommendation for a Christmas present and it would be a perfect accompaniment to Barbara Kingsolvers book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle : A year of Food Life. Anyone with an interest in living simpler and being kinder to the earth should enjoy these two books. 4/5 for me, because I had thought about buying this book for so long and know I will think about it every time I am in the supermarket.