After dropping off cherub at preschool, I spent a couple of hours this morning helping out at the Local Matters office in preparation for Local Foods week.   It’s a beehive of activity, which is a wonderful thing to see.  I spent the morning bundling thousands of pledge cards for the Eat Local Challenge.  I’ve filled mine out, have you?

Local Matters has a ton of great activities planned for Local Foods Week (October 2-8) like the Harvest Ball, the Market to Market Ride, and the Grilled Cheese Throwdown.  But they are also challenging the community to deepen their connection to local food through their first Eat Local Challenge.

 “This year we wanted to use Local Foods Week to ask the community to step up their commitment to eating more local food, so we’ve launched the Eat Local Challenge.  Individuals pledge a personal commitment to local food and get entered for a chance to win great prizes like a ‘Pantry Makeover’ with local products from Whole Foods, or 26 weeks of the Weekly Fresh Market Bag from the Greener Grocer,” says Local Matters Executive Director (and all around nice guy), chef Michael Jones. 

Roll up your sleeves, grab a fork and get ready to dig in.  PK has a menu that’s starting to take shape for the week and will include local fish, pork, and grass-fed beef, as well as a wide variety of seasonal produce that beautiful Ohio has to offer.  I’ll post recipes every day for all our meals and let you know where you can purchase the same ingredients.

Take the challenge with us!