This morning, Katerina allowed us to sleep in until she just couldn’t resist the urge to give me her hand-made Father’s Day card. With that, she and Maggie got up, and left the bedroom. As Katerina was walking out she said sweetly, “Daddy, stay in bed, OK? Whatever you do, don’t go out this door.” She quickly turned and closed the door behind her.

A few minutes later, she re-appeared beaming, and called for me to join them. As I walked to the kitchen, I was met with the delicious aroma of baked goodness. Pancakes! (Instant) coffee! I had forgotten we had these in the pantry, but it was clear they hadn’t. And even though I’ve been enjoying my egg and potato breakfasts for the last month, this was a special treat. Thank you, Maggie and Katerina, for a wonderful start to Week #6.

For all the dads out there, Happy Father’s Day.

To our knowledge, no wheat is grown in the vicinity, and that means no more bread for us.  We have now gone 3 ½ weeks without it, even though we have 3 slices remaining in the freezer, being saved for a rainy day. The toaster was the only appliance in the kitchen that connected us to our bread-eating days. As I was cleaning it I found crumbs from English muffins, frozen waffles, tortillas and bread.  A big part of our eating history was trapped inside.

For decades we have attempted to cut back on our bread consumption to support our weight training diet, but we have never been able to succeed.  Bread was a comfort food, one that we ate when we were hungry, tired, anxious, or just plain bored.  If it was around, bread was toasted, buttered and devoured.  We were addicted to it…but who isn’t?

It took the challenge of eating only locally grown food to break this pattern.  Knowing that there was no wheat in the area made it easier to accept that we didn’t have any choice but to stop consuming it.  There was a real commitment this time around.  This was more than a superficial desire to lose weight.  The motivations are deeper, more meaningful, driven by a purpose to eat local fresh food that will ultimately support our local farmers.

I have to confess, this change has not been easy.  Replacing my protein bars in the morning and afternoon with fresh fruit has been harder than I anticipated.  For the past 10 years I’ve had a protein bar and coffee/tea for breakfast.  Being a working mom, I ate them on the run.  The difference now is that I am learning to slow down in the mornings and sit at the table with my family for a full meal of eggs and potatoes. 

Eating eggs was a challenge in itself.  I do not like egg whites, but for my workout program I’m required to eat more protein than a sedentary person in order to maintain muscle mass.  The breakfast requirement for this program is the equivalent of 4 egg whites.  Slowly, each week I have been introducing an egg at a time and I am now up to 3 eggs.

Controlling our cravings for something sweet has been another challenge.  The protein bars were always handy when those cravings would hit.  I had to adjust my diet even more by introducing fresh seasonal fruit to compensate for the afternoon snacks that I was no longer having.  But my body was screaming for sweets!

Things that were not appealing to me in the past are now objects of desire, like the 7-month old chocolate bar I have sitting in the refrigerator. Everyone in the house wants a piece of it, stale or not.

The first week that we eliminated all processed food from our diets, Adrian and I saw a drop in weight, and with it came headaches, feelings of lightheadedness and dizziness.  We were so tired at the end of the day that we felt like we couldn’t function any more. However, in the mornings I will spring out of bed, feeling rested and full of energy.  At night, even if we eat large servings of vegetables and meat, we don’t feel overstuffed or bloated.  Furthermore, we don’t have to worry about counting calories at every meal, it’s liberating.

It was evident that the changes were happening inside and out. First our bodies reacted to the lack of sugar, but when it was stabilized again, we regained our energy.  For the first time in our lives, we are fueling our bodies solely on wholesome, fresh foods.

We are free from the Standard American Diet (SAD), and have broken our umbilical cords from the processed food industry (who continually provide products loaded with fat, salt and sugars). We have taken charge of locating and picking our own food and serving our family nourishing meals. And by buying our food directly from farms and farmers markets, we are voting with our dollars to support real, sustainable foods.

I won’t need my toaster for a while.  It has already been stored, waiting for its next time to shine. In the meantime, we have made room on our kitchen counter for new possibilities.

We had already started shopping at local markets a month ago, before the idea of 100 Mile Harvest came about. We actually loved the experience so much that we invited Adrian’s parents to join us. The Bayou City Market located at 3000 Richmond Ave. in Houston has a small town feel. There are people walking – yes, in Houston that is a big deal – music playing in the background, and lots of stands with fresh produce, poultry, meat, cheese and delicious healthy prepared food.

One of our favorite stands is Pat Greer’s Kitchen, they have exquisite raw dishes, everything from tacos, salads and falafel to lasagna, pizza, and scrumptious pecan and coconut pies. For those us you who aren’t familiar with the term, raw food is uncooked, unheated, and unprocessed, therefore it contains higher nutritional value than cooked food. It is healthier for you since the enzymes and nutrients have not been destroyed through heating.

We are definitely missing Pat’s meals. We were consistently buying up to 5 dishes from her to enjoy over the weekend, but unfortunately some of the ingredients (cashews, peanuts, coconut, and tahini) do not come from within 100 miles from were we live. We did speak with Nancy, one of the proprietors, who was working at the stand, regarding our 100 mile limitation to see if they could accommodate our request for dishes with exclusively local ingredients. She offered to discuss the matter with Pat to see what they could do. There may be hope. Everyone we have encountered has been very enthusiastic about 100 Mile Harvest and if they do not have the answers to our questions, they point us to someone else who might.

Henry at Bryan Farms was a godsend – we had found our basic protein source. He sells free range, pasture-fed chicken superior in taste and tenderness. At his side are his children, sharing in his passion and learning their first lessons in business.

Our daughter, Katerina, loves walking down the market and selecting her own fruit, especially the blueberries from Jackie Bass (Bassman Fresh, Inc.). She also enjoys visiting “Cheesy Girl” Susan Holle, who produces and sells artisanal cheeses. Susan always greets her customers with a genuine smile and offers samples of her creamy vegetarian cheeses.

For Adrian and I the market has become a place of discovery, where each visit unfolds with new offerings. It is heart-warming to be welcomed by familiar faces. Now that I know some of the farmers by name, their families and what they stand for, I have a deeper respect for the people who tend to the land that sustains us. All these years I have taken for granted the origin of the food on my plate. Only now am I starting to understand the socio-economic impact that it can have on our community, our land, and our environment.

Before we started our year of local eating, we decided to clean out our pantry and refrigerator, eliminating all tempting food that could potentially sabotage our plans. We left only a few things which our 6-year old daughter, Katerina, was allowed to have until they ran out:

• 1 box of grits
• 1 box of oatmeal
• 2 Clif kids bars
• 2 natural fruit roll-ups
• 1 box of raisins
• 2 organic fruit lollipops

We also made sure we had enough milk for her, enough to last for 2 weeks, just in case we couldn’t find any local milk.

To my surprise we found some local cheese at Whole Foods, the label read “made in Houston,” but I can’t help but be suspicious. If we hadn’t found milk in the area, how could we be sure that the cheese really was local? Whole Foods had many products labeled “LOCAL”, but only one product category came from the Houston area: salsa. Everything else labeled local in our tour of the supermarket turned out to be from no less than 200 miles away.

We were briefly excited when we found bags of sugar and sucanat sweetener that were tagged “Local - from Sugar Land.” Could it be true? But upon closer inspection of the packaging, we discovered that the sugar was actually “a product of Costa Rica.” The only thing local was the distribution facility that had a Sugar Land address. That was very deceiving, and I was bothered that the grocery store whose labels I trusted was lying to me. As a consumer I felt insulted. Why not label everything “local” since it is being sold in my neighborhood? Did they not think that their customers would be intelligent enough to read the label and see through the lie?

The lesson was clear: I have to be a cautious and informed consumer. I could not trust a supermarket’s marketing gimmicks; instead I will have to ask more questions and read my labels thoroughly to have a clear understanding of what I’m buying.

After this experience, we contacted the company that produced the cheese and requested more information regarding the origin of their milk. Awaiting a response…

Today was Day 3 of 100 Mile Harvest. It’s been quite an interesting start.

Although we had stopped by the Bayou City Farmers Market on Saturday – one day before we began – it quickly became apparent that we were going to need more fruit. A lot more fruit. In under 72 hours we had gone through half of our blueberries and peaches. It’s amazing how much real food you need when you stop consuming the processed stuff. We also needed more local eggs; no one wanted to go without breakfast.

We visited the Houston Farmers Market, held Tuesday afternoons on the Rice University stadium parking lot. We knew in advance that this was a smaller market than Bayou City, but were surprised to see a fair number of tents. We exited the car, and Maggie disappointedly announced, “I see a lot of prepared food.” This meant fewer fresh produce vendors. Besides, the likelihood that prepared meals would be 100% local was minute.

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I wanted to tell you that I love you with all my heart, and that my love for you has only grown stronger and deeper over the years.

Today is a special day not just because is your birthday, but because you chose this date as the starting point for this journey. This not only shows the passion and commitment that you have for this project, but also reveals another layer of who you are and the many reasons why I love you.

You have taken me through exciting journeys before but it seems that the one that we will embark on today will defy conventional beliefs of how to live life and raise a family. Thank you for allowing me into your life and for believing in me.

This year will be a milestone for the three of us.

Happy Birthday.
Love, Maggie

It was during my 34th birthday that I was stranded in the largest two-day exodus in history since biblical times (Hurricane Rita, September 2005).

During this escape I was forced to detach myself from all material belongings and take with me only the bare essentials for survival and a few extra pairs of heels.

This exodus provoked an internal dialog about my life purpose. Not that I haven’t lost hours of sleep in the past on this subject, but this time it was deeper, more profound, like only a 34 year young woman can experience.

What is my life purpose?
What do I have to contribute to the world?
What legacy will I leave behind to my daughter?

It took me a couple of years to decipher everything that was awakening inside. I was desperately looking for answers, so I devoted my evenings to reading book after book, in hopes of finding those miraculous words that would provide revelation.

I knew God had plans for me.
BIG PLANS, the size of Texas. I knew I’d arrived in this land of plenty for a reason: studies, marriage, motherhood? Or something BIGGER? Not that those weren’t strong enough reasons to feel purposeful but I was looking for something more, something that would take me out of my comfort zone.
I was living too complacently for my own tastes.

On the morning of New Year’s Day 2007, lying like a log next to me, and snoring like a hibernating bear, was the man who would challenge every preconception that I had about living a comfortable suburban life…

All of which started when he decided that he was going to take away my Christmas gift, a new, fully loaded V8 Lexus GX470.

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Yes…that’s right.

Not even 24 hours had passed since we made the commitment, and already Maggie had branded me the “weak link.” We were opening up to our co-workers about the massive undertaking that we are embarking on when she let it fly. We’ll be living “locally” for an entire year starting May 11, 2008, she explained, pausing to let that sink in. “Every single thing we eat for those 365 days will have to come from within 100 miles of our home.”

Theresa interrupted immediately, “Oh, that’s easy for me. I have a Kroger supermarket two miles from my home. That’s about as local as you can get.”

“What?”

“Yeah, no problem. I can get just about anything there…”

I was chuckling, and Maggie quickly cut back in. “No. Everything has to be produced within 100 miles. Chickens. Eggs. Milk. Cheese. Vegetables. Fruits. Nuts. Anything that we eat during any meal – the ingredients and spices and herbs – everything has to come from a farm no more than 100 miles away. If we want bread, we’re going to have to hunt down local wheat. We both believe this is the next step in exploring what it is to be green, and we know it won’t be easy, especially with a 6-year old child, and Adrian being the weak link.”

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