The user info gives a little overview of my reasons for starting this community, so I won't repeat them here. Rather, I will give you an update of what I have done to change my consumer habits since beginning Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. (I say "beginning" rather than "finishing" because I began to make changes after reading chapter 2. Truly, this book was a brilliant anniversary gift!)

The first thing I did was to locate my local farmer's markets:

Durham Farmer's Market
Carrboro Farmer's Market

Between the two of these markets, I can buy fresh produce, pasture-raised meats, free-range chicken and eggs, locally made cheeses and wines, locally made breads, pastries, soaps, toiletries, cosmetics, flowers, jams, and honey three days a week! One is closer to my work and the other is closer to my home so either way, I win.

I visited the Thursday afternoon Carrboro Market location at Southern Village community last Thursday and got some of the best cucumbers, lettuces, and lemon basil I've ever tasted. It was small but had a nice variety of vendors and I was able to get quite a lot of produce for $20.

one large head butter leaf lettuce
qtr. lb. bag of arugula (that's quite a bit of arugula)
qtr. lb. bag of lemon basil (also a lot)
two heads of garlic
three cucumbers
three hothouse tomatoes
one medium head of red leaf lettuce
a cup of fresh limeade for the road

I visited the Saturday morning Durham Farmer's market at its regular location and the place was PACKED. It was great to see so many people and so many vendors. This one is a little larger than the Thursday afternoon version of Carrboro's because they only have the one day a week to sell. I brought $40 for this one and got quite a haul.

one lb. of shelled peas
one brown bell pepper
two large bunches of radish
a bunch of cilantro
6 oz. of fresh honey
two cucumbers
two lbs. of pasture-raised beef, ground, Halal butchered that week, never been frozen
two bars of bath soap

I also researched and found two local food co-ops.

Weaver Street Market
The Durham Food Co-op, which seems to be having website issues this week

I've been to Weaver Street Market and I love it! They have local produce in their produce section, clearly labeled. They have wild caught and local seafood. They also carry locally-made cheeses, tofu, milk, ice cream, and corn chips! They have a full bakery that uses grains milled by a local mill. Their organic produce is fabulous and their prices are good. I have to say that I like them better than Whole Foods. We're getting a Trader Joe's here shortly so I will have to check them out against Weaver Street once they are up and running. But I love a grocery store that carries locally-grown produce. When I went, they were completely out of the locally-grown tomatoes while there were still tons of hothouse organics lounging about.

I also found locally-made soaps, toiletries and cosmetics (not that I'm big into make-up, because I'm not).

Moondance Soaps
Burt's Bees

So clearly, I'm on my way to changing my consumer habits. Share your local links and experiences, too!

Next time, I'll put up some of the recipes I've made with my local produce, some restaurants I've found that proudly use local produce, and some local businesses I've chosen to do business with instead of the big chains.

Have a great week!

Erin