Discover(ing) Sustainability

When I heard that NH would be celebrating local food with a week dedicated to the cause – NH Eat Local Week, August 3-9 – I began to scheme. How could I, as UOS Food & Society Program Coordinator, help support the effort? Better yet, how could I coerce my coworkers into joining me?

I went to the NH Eat Local Week website for ideas. There I found a downloadable challenge card with three levels of difficulty: sprout, seedling, and perennial. Challenges include everything from visiting a farm stand or farmers’ market to cooking and eating 12 meals made from NH grown foods. I decided to pose a challenge to my office: Make a dish using local foods during the NH Eat Local Week and bring it into the office to share. Write a blog posting to tell everyone what it was like – from finding the foods to preparing the recipe to sharing it with the rest of us. Take pictures. Tell us all the gory details.

I’m happy to say that UOS was up for the challenge. “Bring in your local dish” dates were assigned and everyone is plotting what to bring. I’ve managed to involve two more people – a couple of good-humored friends – in the effort by convincing them to teach me how to make mozzarella cheese from scratch (using fresh NH milk, of course) so that I can wow everyone (or make them laugh, depending on how things pan out).

So check back August 4-8 to find out how we do. Brett’s up first, then Sara, Alison, me, and Alaina. In the meantime, visit the NH Eat Local Week website to see what you can do!