I’m a localvore.

There’s a Forest Gump-style ping-pong match between researchers, food companies, and other opinionated parties (I won’t elaborate, but you know the type), telling us what the new “heart-healthy” food is, what “superfood” is a must, and what food product is going to sprout legs in the middle of the night and kill you if you don’t throw it out of your kitchen. RIGHT NOW.

With information and a constant audience at our fingertips, we are continually bombarded with the newest diets, food trends, products, and health information, and in return confidently sharing our opinions on each.

But what does it all mean?

What is “right” and what’s total bullish!t?

Don’t worry. This isn’t where I pitch the Beer In A Martini World Diet, although, for what it’s worth, I am sure 98% of us would enjoy it a hell of a lot more than what Oprah or Joaquin Phoenix has going on. What I am writing about, is:

1. We are blessed to live in a country and day in age where we have a choice. We are able to choose what we want to eat, and what we want our lifestyle to look like. I think we should all stop there and be thankful for a moment.
2. Because we are all so uniquely wired and constructed, with different goals and body preferences, our diets are going to all look a little different. Oh, and that means there will also never be a “perfect” diet or food. (However, I would argue the foundation of our diets theoretically “should” look pretty similar.)
3. Education. The core, and most basic component, of all decisions. Especially as it relates to the millions of food choices.
4. And lastly, something I excel at, curiosity. (Most people that know me would say I tread more on nosey, but we’re going to class that up and call it curiosity today.)

I guess I should slow my role and explain why I believe I have an opinion that would warrant you exercising the brain cells required to read on. Especially since I blasted society’s opinion onslaught a few paragraphs above.

So, here are my qualifications:

1. I love food. In all of its ugly, smelly, beautiful, delicious, and weird forms. I don’t, and have never, shied away from a food with out trying it first. I may not add all new foods to my diet regularly, but sometimes I do (all hail the canned sardines!). I also utilize diets from all aspects of the spectrum. Including: the trucker diet, complete with Funyons and Diet Coke, to the healthed-up hippie, crunching some sprouted bread, with a handful of broccoli sprouts, and a fried (in ghee!) free-range egg on top, washed down with some kombucha. And I, LOVE. THEM. ALL.
2. I was raised with what I believe to be the best grocery store. We had food readily available in its most pure, natural, unadulterated form. While we didn’t have a lot of money growing up to spend on Cheerios and branded items, we did have the ability to grow, forage, and hunt any food we needed. My parents both grow exceptional gardens, and in the summer you’ll often see mom picking our salad from the garden, or grabbing some salad fixins out of the garden on her way to work. We also had chickens (nothing better than fresh eggs, seriously), my parents hunt (oh, backstrap, you have my heart), we raise a steer every few years to fill the freezer, same with hogs, my step-dad and extended family make homemade sausage, linguisa, and bacon a couple times a year, and around us there are local dairies/creameries. Oh, and that big ol’ ocean. Yeah, we love that thing. Between Grandpa Gary and Uncle, we’ve got plenty of fresh fish at our fingertips. If you broaden the scope of our bio-region, you pick up all of the nuts, fruit, and crops grown in the Valley.
3. I have lived and breathed the food industry over the last few years (and the agriculture industry as a whole, every year since my existence). Which means I’ve met experts and passionate people from every corner of the industry. I have also gotten a look behind the proverbial curtain. And boy is there a lot going on back there.
4. As alluded to above, I am innately curious. Which has in turn fueled my education as it relates to diets, foods, production practices, marketing, and ingredients. The more I learn, the more my diet and lifestyle changes. I want to be and feel the best version of myself, which has a direct correlation to what I fuel my body with. As I meet people and learn more, I also take the initiative to ask questions, research, fact check, and listen when people are talking about nutrition, food, ingredients, cause and effect.

Okay, with that said, what is my opinion of food and diet? And what the hell is a localvore?

Let’s start with: a localvore is someone who eats foods locally-produced.

My why: I believe when we purchase and eat locally-produced foods, it helps support our community, helps preserve our local agriculture and traditions, it is more nutritious, more meaningful, and more pure. As a society we have so far removed ourselves from agriculture and food production that we have lost sight of what real food is. What it looks like, what it tastes like, and all the junk it naturally leaves out. I believe that our best grocery store isn’t one with four walls. It’s one with fresh, smelly dirt, moo-ing cows, and lots of: “Jillian, can you walk a little quieter? We’re trying to stalk the buck, not give him a 50-yard head start.” I believe that food is best consumed, and fuel for our bodies, in it’s natural, unprocessed form.

Because our only food source has become the grocery store closest to our homes, we are sicker than any other society in history. Processed, convenience-based foods have taken over the grocery shelves and our bodies. While no doctor, it is my belief that getting back to our roots, connecting and understanding food production and agriculture, is critical to improving our overall health. Having a hand in the production of our food, knowing the farmers and ranchers, truly trusting the companies that produce and package our food, are all critical to being the healthiest versions of ourselves.

Hence, localvore.

Now, do I only eat food that myself, my family, or my friends have grown or produced?

No.

I am learning that hard and fast rules, as they pertain to food, only lead to stress and poor choices. Food should be something that we savor and enjoy, something that brings us happiness and togetherness with those we share it with. So as I have learned more, I have adjusted my focus and as often as I am able to I purchase (or steal from my parent’s freezer) food that I can run a background check on.

Because it isn’t always as easy as picking up some burger from my parent’s, or grabbing a snack from the garden, I have expanded the term localvore to include food produced by people and companies I connect with, and believe in, excusing locality.

Through work I am introduced to, and able to learn about, countless other food companies. I am given the opportunity to not only understand their products, but their company and culture, what they value, and their practices. As a result I have come to wholeheartedly trust, and believe in, the food they produce. While many of them do not source and produce food in my specific bio-region, I have a deep connection and understanding of who they are the food they are producing. I trust that they confidently and happily feed their families the same products that they are selling on the shelf. I trust the way in which they source ingredients, produce the product, and the love they pour into it.

I encourage you to do the same. Research, vet, dig deep on the companies you are purchasing food from. Make sure your values align with theirs. Most companies have websites and social accounts, follow along. Feel connected to, believe in, and trust them.

Some of the companies/brands I love:

• Rumiano Cheese
• Alexandre Family Farm
• Humboldt Grassfed Beef
• Amy’s Kitchen
• Sourdough Story
• Haig’s
• SeaQuake Brewing
• Mushroom Revival

There you have it. I do not identify as a vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, caveman, picky-eater, eliminator, Weight-Watcher, or Keto-follower. I am simply a food lover who seeks out local products, who enjoys having a hand in foraging and harvesting her own food, and who digs deep on companies who I connect with. My best self is when I am in the kitchen, using fresh, unprocessed ingredients, and allowing food to connect me with those I love.

The next time you see me, I may be at a white table cloth dinner in San Francisco, but at heart I’ll always be a kid with dirt on my hands and face picking snacks out of the garden, hunting with dad, and munching on Auntie’s homemade, home-picked blackberry cobbler.

Cheers, friends.