Meet at the market: local challenge accepted

Each week we meet up with Katie Hershfelt of Cultivate Events as she chats with farmers, chefs and shoppers at the Santa Barbara Certified Farmers’ Market.

Starting in October, you may see some people walking around town wearing pins that say “Eat Drink Local Challenge.” Katie met up with Krista Harris, editor of Edible Santa Barbara and the founder of the challenge. Plus, she found a challenge “newbie.”

Krista’s tips for a successful “Eat Local” month:

• Think of it as a personal challenge. Choose a mileage radius that feels comfortable, like 100 or 150 miles from your home. If that seems too hard, choose to source from the state.

• Choose your exceptions. If local coffee is hard to find

  (although it exists!) and you need that buzz, throw that on the list.

• Join the support team. You can interact with others taking the challenge online

  here.

• Get creative. Alan, for example, can’t live without soda. So he’s taking this month to learn how to make his own

  naturally fermented soda!

• Talk to the chef. Yes, at first it might feel a little like

  a Portlandia episode (“What was the chicken’s name?”), but chefs generally like to be asked where their meat and produce comes from.

To check out all our past farmers market segments, click here.