Trade-offs & Exceptions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Local Harvest Challenge is about sourcing locally produced food and food with sustainable features. This, however, is likely to be more difficult for some people in some locations. What is ‘local’ is relative, depending on what is available in your area.

For example, there are likely to be more food options in Crow’s Nest, Sydney, than Broome, Western Australia. We’ve tried to give you a starting place with the Local Harvest website by pooling existing resources into one place, making it easier to find out what’s out there. However it’s a resource that will grow as you discover more local food options and pass them onto us.

Trade-offs

At times you may have to make compromises and purchase outside the radius you’ve chosen. Additionally, there are many trade-offs, where you’ll need to prioritise certain features over others.

We encourage you to set your goals, but then list ‘considerations’ to help guide your week. Examples of some ‘tradeoffs’ are:

  •  Products grown/made within your radius in lots of packaging versus another grown/made outside your radius but bought in bulk, with no packaging.
  • Local and non-organic versus less local but organic or chemical-free.
  • Addicted to coffee? Packaged Australian coffee versus bulk fair-trade Ethiopian coffee.
  • Sustainable practices:  kangaroo from South Australia versus local lamb
  • A tiny tiny sprinkle of spice that is only produced far far away and you already have it in your cupboard anyway …

Exceptions

Here’s what the New York City Locavore Challenge  (similar to this one) said regarding exceptions.

Does the challenge sound great, but are you in a panic about your morning coffee addiction? Well some rules were meant to be broken, and we have a few exceptions to the rules that we are willing to grant to challengers.

Marco Polo Rules. Go ahead, add some spice to your life. Salt, spices and seasoning do not need to be local. Feel free to use yeast, baking soda, baking powder and etc.

Wild Cards. Each participant can also choose up to (5) wild card ingredients that cannot be sourced locally but that the challenger feels they cannot live without. Typical items include: coffee, chocolate, sugar, tea, olive oil, nuts and rice.

Challengers are encouraged to purchase Certified Organic and Certified Fair Trade items if they cannot be sourced locally. 

‘Eating locally seems to be a grand experiment in this modern age. But it has been a way of life in the past, and is likely to be again in the future’