Presenting the Challenge

As a research project for a Cultural Ecology seminar with the Anthropology department at Mount Allison University, we (Adrienne Kasdan and Rachel Willis) were challenged to conduct a project based on how our personal behaviours and choices affect both global and local ecologies. After discussing our interests, we decided that we wanted to begin eating locally in Sackville, making observations about how our consumption affects us, our community, and the environment.

Originally we wanted to do a 100-mile diet. Research into the available foods located within this radius proved very limiting, and upon further reflection of our primary goals we decided to base our diet not purely on radius but on a few criteria which we felt addressed our goals more realistically, particularly given our social and economic circumstances as students in the dead of winter.

We opted for foods firstly that had procured a minimal carbon footprint for travel (local), secondly whose cultivation and manufacturing reduced uses of harmful chemicals (organic), and thirdly that had not proliferated social inequalities in communities elsewhere in the world (fair trade). Our aim was, through consciousness in where we were investing our dollars, to withdraw support of food manufacturers acting unethically whilst supporting local producers and global agencies who are providing sustainable alternatives.

We dieted strictly for two weeks, we continued to purchase locally, and we learned a lot. We created this space in hopes of inspiring others to learn about and practice eating locally in Sackville (and in the world). We want to share experiences, recipes, and any relevant information that will help us to be environmentally conscious while we eat!

YOUR comments and ideas are very much encouraged!