Decision to be a locavore

All things Indiana! Indiana food. Indiana cleaning products. Indiana health and beauty products. Indiana gasoline?

Starting Thursday, I am going to start the challenge of consuming only Indiana products. But, before I get into that, I wanted to explain what lead me here. Seven years ago, my wife and I moved into our house, and we had a moderate sized fight: she wanted to recycle. Not only did I not see the point in doing this, but we had to pay for it? I found the whole thing preposterous (ironically, I still find it preposterous; how about making us pay for trash pick-up but make recycling free), I just didn’t care about recycling or helping the planet. Since that disagreement, I have had a slow, but significant, transformation - thanks to the influence of my wife and her friends. I have down-sized from an SUV to a Prius, recycle and reuse everything possible (what Republic doesn’t take we keep for special runs to other recyclers), maintain two compost piles, put up rain barrels, have my own small garden, and I will periodically hug a tree.

That is where I was a year ago, but I wanted to do more: something significant and personally challenging. Last June, I decided to spend the month as a vegetarian (lacto-ovo vegetarian, to be specific). I had read a series of articles about the environmental benefits of being a vegetarian. The one statistic (I promise the blog will be short on statistics and more about my experiences) that stood out to me was to produce one pound of beef, it takes 2,500 gallons of water. Conversely, to produce a pound of potatoes, it only takes approximately two gallons.

That was my adventure a year ago. This year I wanted to do something more…so I have decided to become a locavore. Most of the stories I have read about locavores centered on just the food they consumed, but to make this a real challenge, I am incorporating the lifestyle into everything. I have been researching products for the past few months to learn how I can do this. For this quest, I have designed a set of rules that I must follow:

1. When at all possible, consume products that are both made from Indiana materials and made in Indiana (e.g. grass fed cattle raised in Indiana).
2. When it is not possible to get raw materials from Indiana, I will buy products that are made from Indiana companies (e.g. coffee Beans are not grown in Indiana, but are roasted and distributed by Indiana companies).
3. When it is not possible to get raw materials from Indiana or find an Indiana producer, I will obtain products using one of the following parameters:

• The product is made from materials that come from surrounding states and is produced in a surrounding state(Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky).
• The product is made in a surrounding state but is made up of materials that come from further away.
• Obtain the materials from a surrounding state and make it myself (I have made my first batch of hair gel and my hair is moving less than Will Schuester in Glee)

Over the next month, I will share with you the challenges I encounter and the discoveries I make. I will visit some Indiana companies and relay on their stories and what I like about them. I also hope you will share with me your observations on my craziness or your advice on where I can find an item. Here is how you can follow me over the next month:

• Every Tuesday, I will post a blog at Keep Indianapolis Beautiful’s website (www.kibi.org)
• Every Friday, I will post a blog at Indy Hub’s website (www.indyhub.org)
• I will be doing smaller but more frequent blogs at blogspot (feiney.blogspot.com...right here!)
• I will be tweeting during the month. You can follow me @Feiney

I look forward to sharing my adventure with you!