Why attempt a Zero Mile diet?

My boyfriend Scooter and I have been getting a CSA from Terra Firma Farm for almost 10 years now. The seasonality has reconnected us to when local foods are available and the taste between in+ out of season produce. When living in the Mission District of San Francisco, we even became a drop host which allowed us to meet a bunch of other friendly people.

About Two years ago we moved to the Laurel District of Oakland into a tiny house [about the size of our SF Studio apt] but the winning feature was a 4000 sq/ft back yard. The experimentation began. We had to reclaim some area from the weedy ivy, oxalis,kikuyu grass, and vinca. We started small with two areas. One being an amended section of our clay soil and another being a raised bed. Those first tomatoes that summer brought me straight back to when I was a child in my Aunt Mary's vegetable garden. I was in love.

Since then I've added fruit +olive trees, two more raised beds, cleared a hillside for annual veggies, bought some chickens,ducks, bees, and started making my own saurkraut, pickles, cheese, and root beer

We've participated in the 100-mile diet which has become popular over the last few years. I was even inspired to help create a locavore reception as part of my eco-art class.

In the Bay Area, the urban homesteading movement has recently taken off as an expansion of the local diet. Chickens really shouldn't be an exotic addition to a backyard. We have lost touch with traditional techniques of food preservation and fermentation. Urban homesteaders look to reclaim these techniques in our current environment instead of moving far away into rural land as was done in the 70's with the communal back to the land movement.

We're also seeing a return of victory gardens with such highly visible ones as the garden being created at SF City Hall.

The one thing I haven't seen is documentation of a city person's journey to sustainability. I've found getting accents to my meals quite easy in my garden. However, creating whole meals has been more of a challenge. I think the benchmark of what I receive in my CSA box every week is a good goal to set. I want to see if it is obtainable from what I can produce in my backyard and trade with neighbors.

Not only do i want to gain a deeper connection to the land and my neighbors but also create an artistic protest against the war. Hopefully, others will be inspired by my trials to try new things in their yards. By creating your own, we reduce our dependence on oil while having yummy treats. A win win situation.


So my Journey Begins
Paul