Tricia Beckner will soon bear the burden of feeding me for a month. Starting September 1 we’re doing our 10 Mile Diet which began as her search for a guinea pig who would agree to eat solely from her market garden/homestead for a month. She has veggies galore plus some eggs and is willing to butcher a couple of chickens.
I’m game – so to speak since we are talking about ‘birds.’
But I negotiated for extras. Of course.
We expanded the range to 10 miles from either of our Langley homes. I’ll talk about what’s in that circle later but today I’m talking about the 10% exotics. There are a few items I’m going to get beyond our 10 mile circle. Actually, waaaaaay beyond.
The for sure items are
- Olive Oil
- Salt and spices
- Caffeine
I’m considering a few more on the essentials list, but haven’t decided:
- Almonds (I may be able to get walnuts or hazelnuts within my 1o miles)
- Soy sauce (oh please don’t make me live for a month without that or Braggs!)
My rationalizations are these:
- From time immemorial traders came through villages with foods from afar. Women bought oil and spices and special medicinals – not to speak of fabrics, needles and such – for their families while providing most of what they needed through home production. This isn’t ‘cheating’. it’s normal for human settlements.
- When Tricia asked dozens of others to do this experiment with her, the answer was no. Ususally there was one food they just couldn’t live without. Wine. Coffee. Avocados. Chocolate. Because of that one food, the whole experiment was rejected. I remember this from my Your Money or Your Life work. People couldn’t “do it” (be frugal, mind their spending) because they couldn’t do without that one spending treat. I’d say, “Well, don’t give that up, but could you let go of the habitual spending that doesn’t make you happy?” (and believe me, there was plenty of that!). I find that people reject lifestyle change because of the perception of extreme deprivation. What if the 10mile diet said, “What 10 foods can you NOT do without?” It’s not an on-off switch, it’s discernment.
Did I say 10 foods? hmm. What are my other 5? Should i add chocolate?
Stay tuned.