Pip's five mile diet
19 February 2009

Everyone has heard of carnivores and herbivores. Now Ambridge has a "locavore", in the person of Pip Archer..



A locavore is someone who eats food which is grown or produced locally, or within a certain radius. Pip and her friends from Young Farmers have decided that during Lent, which this year is 25 Feb (Ash Wednesday) to 12 April (Easter Day), they are only going to eat food produced within five miles of their homes.

This makes them very hard core locavores indeed. The best-known locavore experiment is the 100 Mile Diet. This started when two Canadians - Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon - decided to spend a year restricting themselves to foods sourced within a 100-mile radius of their city apartment in Vancouver. The aim was to reduce their carbon footprint, to eat more healthily and to re-connect with food producers and consumers on their doorstep.

They recorded their experiences in magazine articles and a book, which sparked something of a trend in local eating. While not everyone adopted the principle full-time for as long as the MacKinnons, 100-mile meals, weeks or months became popular. Minnesota woman Jody Russell decided a 50-mile radius was sufficient. And Mary Gazetas of Richmond, British Columbia decided that that 100 miles "was for wussies", so tried a ten mile diet for ten days. Fortunately, like Pip, she lived in promising territory, even having the Pacific Ocean to hand.

Local to Ambridge

Whether Pip will be taking trout from the Am (or Brian's fishing lake) we will have to see. She does have an abundance of local produce to choose from - beef, lamb and milk from Brookfield; eggs from Neil; pork, bacon and sausages from Tom. Although this is far from the most productive time of year for British horticulture, Bridge Farm and Phil's garden should be able to provide a range of vegetables. Sugar would be completely banned, but honey from Jill's bees should provide an very acceptable replacement. And even puddings are catered for, with Bridge Farm yogurt and ice cream.

But if Pip is absolutely purist, she will run into more than a few challenges during the 40 days. Bread might be baked locally, but where does the flour come from? Salt and pepper - in fact all spices - will be banned. What about oil for cooking? Where does the rennet in Helen's cheese come from?

It may be that's Pip's airy confidence might be a little overstated, but she should learn a lot along the way.

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