Homegrown’s Inaugural Eat Local Challenge
Asparagus is filling up baskets, spring onions are popping, and strawberries and rhubarb are on their way. (I can taste the rhubarb crisp already.) To celebrate the most delicious time of the year, Homegrown Happy Valley will be kicking off its inaugural Eat Local Challenge on Friday, May 29.
Coinciding with the first State College Farmer’s Market of 2009, the Eat Local Challenge hopes to inspire you to eat locally this season.
You are in charge of your own goal, whether it’s a small step toward becoming a localvore–say, getting to a farmer’s market once a week–or a giant leap, like filling your canvas bag of choice with only those items that are grown or produced here in Happy Valley. (If you have to lie to yourself about the Centre County banana plantation, so be it.)
We’ll provide lots of motivation in the form of recipes, tips for making the most of your local bounty, and farms and shops to visit. Think of Homegrown as your local food coach. In the meantime, please share your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, and accomplishments in the “Leave a Reply” field below. As for us, we’ve already turned one reluctant spouse into an asparagus eater. Who knows what will happen next.
This entry was posted on Monday, May 11th, 2009 at 9:07 pm and is filed under Events, Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
May 29th, 2009 at 12:48 am
When we moved to the State College area in 2007, we really missed shopping at Whole Foods. Then we discovered the fantastic local food scene here and we no longer really miss it!
Now that we are used to sourcing most of our food locally during the growing season, my goal for this year will be to find a way to preserve enough of our summer CSA share and what we buy at the markets to fulfill more of our winter needs.
May 31st, 2009 at 10:42 am
I will be Junior Nutrition major next semester here at Penn State. This past semester, 2 friends of mine started a club on campus to promote local foods. We hope to make the student body aware of Happy Valley’s key farming location and the abundance of locally grown foods that are available throughout the year.
My own personal goal is to fill my fridge with fruits and vegetables that are grown locally in these summer months. No more banana’s when I can have home grown strawberries in my cereal!
my most favorite cook book and guide to eating foods in season, called Simply in Season: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0836192966/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=2851314509&ref=pd_sl_902aqixcbu_e
May 31st, 2009 at 11:42 pm
Hi! I am part of the Penn State club Lauren mentioned… we are called Community Food Security, and our goal is to educate ourselves, each other, and the community about eating locally grown foods.
I think Homegrown in Happy Valley is a fantaaaastic idea and I am really excited to see how things progress this summer !
It was so good to be back on Locust Lane this past friday perusing the familiar booths - I am especially excited for peach season - and peach pies!!