Blogtown, PDX

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Books Goin’ to Beaverton!

Posted by Amy J. Ruiz on Wed, May 9 at 3:52 PM

scaled.plenty.jpg I’m driving out to Beaverton tonight, which I’m excited about for two reasons. For starters, I don’t think I’ve been to Beaverton yet. At least not on purpose—it’s possible I’ve accidentally driven through.

But more importantly, I’ll be headed to Powell’s to hear Alisa Smith and James B. Mackinnon talk about their year eating only food from within 100 miles of their Vancouver, BC home. I’m reading their book, Plenty, right now. They kicked off their project in March a few years ago, and I’m in the October chapter (so I have no idea what the hell they ate in January). It’s a great read—I expected an emphasis on their adventures in finding local food, but the book is heavier on the larger issues: Both Smith and Mackinnon are journalists, and dug into topics like the lack of biodiversity in our food system, how ancient people (especially in the Northwest) thrived off the land, and the impact what we eat has on the world. They’re also quite frank about the strain the ambitious project put on their 14-year relationship.

(Incidentally, we tried the “100 mile diet” a few weeks ago, during the annual “Eat Local Challenge.” Despite pillaging the Portland Farmer’s Market, and living 6 blocks from New Seasons Market, it actually was quite a challenge to eat purely within a 100 mile radius—you should try it for a few days!)

Anyway, I can’t wait to see them in Beaverton at 7 pm!

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Comments

Hi Amy,

Have a great time. I'm just sending my usual Beaverton reminder that you can get there by MAX. Takes 20 minutes and then you won't have to deal with the car. Beaverton Transit Station is within walking distance of Powells. It's a weird walk, kind of a sprawly wilderness, and if you're tired, the #20 goes from the MAX to the store.

Posted by Matthew Stadler | May 9, 2007 5:28 PM

I wish I'd know that before—we ended up driving WAY too much. I had the old Beaverton Powell's address, so we got a grand tour of the 'burbs. MAX next time sounds nice.

Posted by Amy J. Ruiz | May 9, 2007 8:55 PM

Also, the new huge New Seasons is right there off Max near Powells. The burbs finally be eatin' right.

Posted by TKrueg | May 9, 2007 10:42 PM

Gary Paul Nabhan wrote an excellent book in 2002 on the same idea-
Coming home to eat: the pleasures and politics of local foods.

Mult Co. Library has it here:
https://catalog.multcolib.org/search/anabhan%2C+gary+paul/anabhan+gary+paul/1%2C1%2C16%2CB/frameset&FF=anabhan+gary+paul&2%2C%2C16

Posted by vanessa | May 10, 2007 8:22 AM

According to this plan, does anything sold in a store that's 100 miles from your home count or does the food have to be grown/slaughtered/etc within that radius?

Posted by billie | May 10, 2007 11:16 AM

i don't care how many reasonable bookstores and supermarkets they put there, or how diverse matthew stadler proclaims it to be, you should never ever ever be excited about going to beaverton. i work there every single day, and every single day i mourn the time lost commuting into a dreadful poorly planned suburb with no defined center where lots of people drive giant cars and are rude to you in better than average supermarkets. i do recommend taking the MAX though. gas is expensive and why waste it going to a place like beaverton. ugh.

Posted by leah | May 10, 2007 1:27 PM

According to this plan, does anything sold in a store that's 100 miles from your home count or does the food have to be grown/slaughtered/etc within that radius?

The authors went with items grown and produced within their 100 miles—so a packaged good assembled next door from far flung ingredients was no good. They basically skipped all packaged goods for a year, as it's next to impossible to source every ingredient on a label. Instead, they forged relationships with farmers and beekeepers, patronized the farmer's market, and grew what they could in a community garden plot.

But they made certain allowances—anything already in their cupboard was fair game, so they had some salt handy. And when they ate at a friends house, they didn't throw a stink about where everything came from (though they found that most friends tried to feed them 100 mile food).

When I tried it a few weeks ago, we made an exception for coffee and things in our cupboard.

Posted by Amy J. Ruiz | May 10, 2007 2:43 PM

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