it's only food

As some of you are aware two summers ago I had challenged myself to complete a 100-mile diet for 100 days. I learned a lot about food over those 100 days and I cannot lie I often found myself hungry in the early weeks until I had figured out viable sources of local food. For those of you who are unaware, a 100 mile diet consists of eating only food that is grown withen 100 miles of where you live with the exception of when you are eating at someone else's house. The premise sounds simple until you arrive at the grocery store the first time. Quickly you realize that the food being sold has traveled great distances to make it your plate. Looking back I think I was able to get maybe a handful of vegetables and one specific brand of grains that I was able to trace to withen 100 miles, also I learned that nothing packaged is 100 mile diet friendly.

From that point on I had to rely on the farmers market, but only after talking to every vendor and inquiring about every aspect of their food, and on friends and neighbours who had grown fruits and vegetables or hunted.  Suddenly buying food was a community event for Chelsey and I. by talking to each farmer at the market we not only learned what they had where they grew it and their proximity to us but we began to learn about the people who provided the food and the lives that the animals lived before becoming food.

It would be lying if I said the three months were easy, there was definitely foods that we missed, foods we got really sick of, and the fact that our 100 mile diet went through Chelsey's birthday. Starting in April with little preparation meant that all we ate were root vegetables and flat bread for the first week and a bit, but when we did get established often times we found that the grocery store foods just didn't compare to the flavours of the market food.

I bring this up because food is often taken for granted, unless it is no longer readily available. Society also has a huge disconnect with our food system. As athletes we constantly monitor what it is that we put into our bodies but how many of us look at where it comes from and the environmental impact of our diets. After talking with Chelsey about food for some lengths we decided that we will for the month of June (not her birthday this year) be partaking in a 100 mile diet again in Vancouver and I am offering an open invitation for anyone to join me.

Sihing Craig Janzen