Take LEPS’ Eat Local Challenge!
Pledge to source as much of your food as possible from local producers for the week starting Wednesdya August 3rd and ending August 10th. Register with Ava Shannon, our Agriculture Program Coordinator [email protected] or 604-546-0337.
What does taking the Challenge mean?
Well, YOU decide that! How do you want to challenge yourself for the week? Here are some ideas for goals you could set:
- Aim to source as many ingredients as possible from Langley producers. Allow yourself 3 exceptions, like rice, wheat products, and oils, or let yourself use whatever is already in your pantry.
- OR try to source everything as locally as you can find it – vegetables, dairy and meat from Langley, fruit from the Okanagan, coffee from a local roaster, etc.
- OR find out what your 100 mile (or 160 km) radius is, and aim to only eat what can be produced in that circle. Remember there are local fish vendors who harvest from that ocean too!
- OR just try to get more of your groceries from farmers instead of stores. This still makes a big difference because when you buy direct, farmers get a bigger share of that price than when you buy from a grocery store that has bought the product wholesale.
Where can you get local food?
- A farmers’ market, like Langley Community Farmers Market or the Fort Langley Farmers Market or Aldergrove Farmers Market
- Direct from farms, using guides like the Circle Farm Tour or the FarmFresh Guide. Also look out for roadside stands and signs when you’re driving around your area. The hashtags #langleyfresh and #buylocalbc are attached to a lot of information about Langley’s food.
- From grocery stores and produce stores that label the sources of their products. While this doesn’t contribute as much to farmers financially, the choice still sends the message to grocery stores: We want local products!
Some more tips for your week:
- Plan ahead: Start stocking up on local groceries before the 3rd, and jot down some meal ideas to use these ingredients.Check out Edible Vancouver for great recipes using local ingredients.
- Get on social media and share your aspirations as well as your trials and tribulations! Maybe other people have dealt with similar experiences. Use the hashtag #LangleyEatsLocal for a chance to win a prize that will be going to the most active person on social media! The entire LEPS staff will be doing the Challenge, and will be posting from Facebook and Twitter.
Stay tuned for more tips and info!
At the end of the week, come to the Langley Eats Local event at the Langley Community Farmers Market (at the KPU Langley campus on the bypass 12–4:30pm) to pick up a free goodie bag to congratulate you for a successful week – and to find out if you were the lucky winner of the gift basket!
Besides an array of local producers, the event also features kids’ and adults’ activities and scavenger hunts with prizes, and new this year, at 3pm sampling of five appetizers made by local-food-champion Chef Adrian Beaty for just $5 – get your advance tickets for the sampling at the Farmers’ Market next Wednesday or from the LEPS office the rest of the week before the 10th.
To register for the Eat Local Challenge or to get more information about the sampling, contact Ava Shannon, Agriculture Program Coordinator at [email protected] or 604.546.0337.