The 100-Mile Diet

Infobox Book
name = The 100 Mile Diet:
A Year of Local Eating


image_caption = First edition cover of Canadian release
author = Alisa Smith & J. B. MacKinnon
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = Canada
subject = Diet (nutrition)
genre = Non-fiction, memoir
publisher = Random House
pub_date = March 2007
media_type = Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
pages = 272 pp.
isbn = ISBN 0679314822 (10) & ISBN 9780679314820 (13)
oclc = 74028846

"The 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating" (or "Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally") is a non-fiction book written by Canadian writers Alisa Smith and J. B. MacKinnon. In the book, the authors recount their experiences, including motivations and challenges, on restricting their diet, for one year, to include only foods grown within 100 miles of their residence. Beginning in March 2005, with little preparation the urban couple began only purchasing foods with ingredients they knew were all from within 100 miles. Finding little in grocery stores, they relied on farmer's markets and visits to local farms. Staples in their diet included seafood, chicken, root vegetable, berries, and corn. They lacked cooking oils, rice, and sugar. They preserved foods for use in the winter but ended with extra supplies.

The couple first wrote about the experience in articles for the online magazine "The Tyee". The popularity of the articles led to a book deal. In the book, Smith and MacKinnon each write alternate chapters, 12 in total. The first chapter is written by MacKinnon and focuses on the first month of their experience. They write in the first person as a memoir that explores their own dietary experiences and personal feelings.

In the Canadian market, the book spent five weeks on "Maclean's" nonfiction bestseller list. The book spent 20 weeks on "The Vancouver Sun's" nonfiction bestseller list. The authors won the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize from the British Columbia Booksellers Association for the best contribution to the enjoyment and understanding of British Columbia. The 100-mile diet concept, along with advocates of local food, were covered by media across North America.

Background

Alisa Smith and J. B. MacKinnon's idea of local eating began while visiting their cabin in northern British Columbia in August 2004. [cite news |first = Pamela |last = Irving |title = Worldwide phenomenon began with one simple meal |work = Edmonton Journal |page = E10 |date = 10 October 2007] Their food supplies were nearly exhausted so to feed their dinner guests they scrounged the surrounding land for food. Their dinner of Dolly Varden trout, wild mushrooms, dandelion leaves, apples, sour cherries, and rose hips, along with potatoes and garlic from the garden, so impressed the couple that once back home, in their Kitsilano apartment in Vancouver, they pursued the idea of eating only local food.cite news |first = Angela |last = Murrills |title = Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon |url = http://www.straight.com/article-86371/alisa-smith-and-j-b-mackinnon |work = The Georgia Straight |publisher = Vancouver Free Press |date = 19 April 2007 |accessdate = 2008-08-13] cite news |first = Patricia |last = Coppard |title = Green grow the markets; Kitsilano couple determined to eat only locally produced food find they cannot live by kale alone, and they longed for a bit of bread |location= Victoria, B.C. |work = Times-Colonist |page = D10 |date = 6 May 2007] They eventually decided to try a diet consisting of eating food, for one year, grown within 100 miles of their home. They began the diet symbolically on the first day of spring, March 21.cite news |first = Rachel |last = Giese |title = Home cooking: Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon talk about The 100-Mile Diet |work = cbc.ca |date = 11 April 2007 |url= http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/100_mile_diet.html |accessdate = 2008-08-15] Beginning in June, they wrote articles at "The Tyee" about their experience. The couple, both in their 30s, each had experience in writing: Smith as a freelance journalist who had taught non-fiction writing, and MacKinnon as the author of the award-winning historical non-fiction book "Dead Man in Paradise" and a past editor of "Adbusters" magazine.cite news |first = Merilyn |last = Simonds |title = Food for thought about what we eat |work = The Gazette |location = Montreal |date = 5 May 2007 |page = J6]

They were over-whelmed by the response, first from other locavores and then from local and international news media. [cite news |first = Tracy |last = Loew |title = Couple think globally by eating locally |work = USA Today |url= http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2006-06-09-100-mile-diet_x.htm |accessdate=2008-08-23 |date = 6 September 2006 |page = D5] Eleven articles were published in the "The Tyee" series over the year, plus an additional four articles afterwards, between August 2006 and May 2007. They launched an independent website, 100milediet.org, in April 2006 and began writing the book. Random House published the hardcover version on 12 March 2007 in Canada as "The 100 Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating" and on 24 April in the United States as "Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally". The trade paperback was released in Canada by Random House's Vintage Canada imprint on 2 October and in the United States by the Three Rivers Press imprint on 22 April 2008.

Content

The book consists of twelve chapters, plus an Epilogue and an Acknowledgements section at the end. Smith and MacKinnon individually write alternating chapter, each of which covers one month from March 2005 to February 2006. In the first chapter MacKinnon tells how their idea for the 100-mile diet began with an impromptu dinner in northern BC followed by a statistic that impacted MacKinnon: that, according to an article from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University, food typically travels between 1,500 to 3,000 miles from farm to consumer. MacKinnon suggested to Smith that they begin a diet consisting of only local foods. Smith reluctantly agreed to a one year experiment to see if it was possible. They began symbolically on the first day of Spring, March 21, and defined 'local' as 100-miles, a convenient radius that would include the Lower Mainland, the southern half of Vancouver Island, and Whatcom County and Skagit County in Washington State. They agreed to one amendment: exceptions are permitted if they were invited to a meal with friends, business acquaintances, or while traveling. They also agreed to use up whatever was left in their cupboards and fridge. Since Spring was only beginning, the farmer's market would not open for another 2 months, and they had not prepared, their initial month was expensive as they scoured grocery stores for whatever they could find. In the second chapter, Smith tells of the origin of their diet from her point-of-view and considers what foods would be forbidden, including cooking oils, rice, wheat, barley, and sugar. She also describes hers and MacKinnon's character: unwed urban couple in their early thirties with no children and living in a rented apartment. She identifies MacKinnon as the cook and explains how her upbringing resulted in an aversion towards stereotypical housewife duties.

The farmer's market opened in May and the couple were able to pick strawberries and buy local honey to replace sugar. They bought eggs from a farm at the University of British Columbia and seafood from fishermen who fished the Strait of Georgia. They recount how eating impact their relationship before and after the diet, the anonymity of prepackaged foods, the traceability of their diet, and the diets of the Coast Salish and early colonists.

The couple spend August at the cabin in Dorreen in northwestern BC but stop in Smithers and Terrace to collect food and supplies. Unable to travel back to town they what supplies they had brought, fish from the Skeena River, wild berries, and whatever is growing in the garden. Back in the Lower Mainland, the September harvest provides them with melons, peppers, eggplant, grapes, and tomatoes. Their plans to fish were canceled due to a chemical spill in the Cheakamus River and depressed stock in the Fraser River. To prepare for winter they preserved corn and tomatoes, made jam from berries, collected herbs from their community garden, and bought many potatoes.

During the fall, each write on the troubles in their relationship. For Thanksgiving, while MacKinnon was working in the Maritimes, Alisa ate a 100-mile dinner with David Beers, the founder of the "Tyee", and his family. In November, MacKinnon suspends his 100-mile diet a few days while in Kamloops during a family emergency. Once back in Vancouver, they discover a farmer on Vancouver Island who grows his own fruits, vegetables, meats, and flour. The couple buy 75 lbs of four from him and make pasta, crackers, bread, and pie. In December, Smith visits her grandmother in Edmonton where she eats microwaved pasta and notes how unnourished she feels for it. She surprises MacKinnon with a soup she made from scratch, an accomplishment for her.

In January they eat with food critics at a restaurant that specializes in local cuisine, after a large dinner for a dozen people the only thing not from within 100 miles was the wine which came from Okanagan, about 200 miles away. Previously vegetarians, the couple cook and eat beef, their first red meat in years. In February, Smith visits a group in Mahnomen, Minnesota, who are half way through a year long 250-mile diet. Meanwhile, MacKinnon, working in Malawi, is struck by the disparate effects that free trade agreements have had on the diets of the people in the poor country whose ample food supplies are shipped abroad, as contrasted with Canada and the United States who buy the food they do not require. The couple learn about Mexican and Maya cuisine while in Merida, Mexico for wedding. With winter, and their one year, ending, they still have plenty of preserved food though much, including their potatoes, had spoiled. The book ends with an epilogue, written by both Smith and MacKinnon 6 months after their one year diet experiment finished. They make a symbolic journey to Bamfield, within their 100-mile radius, to collect sea water for its salt and prove to themselves that they could have obtained their own salt supply, one of the fundamental ingredients they previously could not find within 100 miles.

tyle and genre

The book uses a first person memoir style with Smith and MacKinnon taking turns writing each chapter.cite news |first = Charles |last = Wilkins |title = Think globally, shop locally, eat really well |work = The Globe and Mail |location = Toronto |date = 21 April 2007 |page = D1] The authors purposely avoided writing a self help book in favour of the memoir style, saying, "We wanted to show readers that process, and how it affected us and let them see it through our eyes." The topics sometimes go beyond the motivations and challenges of the diet into more personal relationship issues. Prior to writing the book they created a general plan on where the narrative would lead.cite news |first = Shawn |last = Conner|title = Year of eating locally |work = Vancouver Courier |date = 13 April 2007 |page = 41] They took turns writing so they could monitor each other's progress. As the two alternate there are shifts in perspectives, though the overall theme of "traceability" persisted. The general tone has been described as charming, innocent, and sometimes funny. Smith's chapters have been said to demonstrate more honesty and vulnerability, while MacKinnon's were more "show pieces, little tours de force". The final chapter was authored together by Smith and MacKinnon writing as a disembodied third-person narrator to summarize and conclude the book.

Reaction to the book

In the Canadian market, "The 100-Mile Diet" debuted at #10 on "Maclean's" nonfiction bestseller list on May 14. It spent five weeks on the list, peaking at #4. [Cite journal |first=Brian |last=Bethune |date= 14 May 2007 |title=Best Sellers |journal = Maclean's
Note: The book was listed at #7 on May 21, #6 on May 28, #4 on June 4, and #6 on June 11.] In the Vancouver market, the book spent 20 weeks on "The Vancouver Sun"'s nonfiction bestseller list, peaking at #5. [cite news |title = Best on the shelf |work = The Vancouver Sun |page = C10 |date = 21 April 2007
Note: The book peaked #5 for two weeks (May 12 & 19) and was last listed on 1 September 2007.] At the British Columbia Booksellers Association's BC Book Prizes, in April 2008, the book was short-listed for the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize, while the authors won the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize, awarded to the authors of the book that best contributes to the enjoyment and understanding of British Columbia. [cite news |first = Rebecca |last = Wigod |title = Authors of The 100-Mile Diet win B.C. book award |work = The Vancouver Sun |date = 28 April 2008 |page = C5]

The book has been called engagingly written, wisely researched, and honestly told. [cite journal |last = Conlogue |first = Ray |year = 2007 |month = May/June |title = The 100-mile marathon |journal = Canadian Geographic |volume = 127 |issue = 3 |pages = 91 |publisher = Royal Canadian Geographical Society |issn = 0706-2168] Critics admired the wit and humour. [cite journal |first=Brian |last=Bethune |date = 30 April 2007 |title = Food for Thought |journal = Maclean's |volume = 120 |issue = 16 |pages = 69] [cite journal |first=Nancy |last=Roulston |coauthors =Larraine Roulston |year=2007 |month=Nov/Dec |title = Learning to Eat Locally |journal = In Business |volume = 29 |issue = 6 |pages = 10—11] The book reviewer for "The Globe and Mail" admitted he grew impatient with the grand and repetitive statements about the changing global food system and the authors' hyperbole regarding their modest culinary discoveries. Compared to Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle", "The 100-Mile Diet" was found to be more compelling and easier to read, with Smith and MacKinnon more relatable and sympathetic than Kingsolver. [cite news |first = |last = |title = What's for dinner? Anything the neighbours produce for local-eating advocates |work = Winnipeg Free Press |date = 6 May 2007 |page = D1]

Reaction to the diet

While the concept of only eating locally grown food is not new, the book coincided with the emerging popularity of the locavore movement and farmer's markets.Cite journal |first=Carolyn |last=Cooper |date= April 2007 |title=100 miles and counting |journal = Food in Canada |page=7 |volume=67 |issue=3] Cite journal |first=Margot |last=Roosevelt |date= 12 June 2006 |title=The Lure of the 100-Mile Diet |journal = Time |page=78 |volume = 167 |issue=24 |url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1200783,00.html |accessdate=2008-08-23] Media outlets in North America examined the feasibility of only eating food produced locally, local food-themed events, and locavore groups.cite news |first =Jacquie |last =Moore |title = Living La Feeda Local: Can Calgarians eat a 100-mile diet? |work = Calgary Herald |date = 27 July 2007 |page = SW24] cite news |first =Pamela |last =Irving |title = Local couple takes the 100-mile challenge; Discover buying, preparing only locally produced food results in healthier eating |work = Edmonton Journal |date = 10 October 2007 |page = E10] Cite journal |first=Susan |last=Cosier |date= September/October 2007 |title=The 100-Mile Diet: The Struggles and Successes of Eating Local Foods |journal = E/The Environmental Magazine |volume=18 |issue=5] During World Food Day in 2006, playing off the popularity of Smith and MacKinnon's articles in "The Tyee", the Vancouver City Hall held a 100-mile themed breakfast. [cite news |first= |last= |title = Councillors will breakfast close to home in celebration of World Food Day |work = The Vancouver Sun |date = 13 October 2005 |page = B2] Locavore groups have held local-only dinner parties and week-long challenges.cite news |first =Martin |last =Burros |title = Preserving Fossil Fuels and Nearby Farmland by Eating Locally |work = The New York Times |date = 25 April 2007 |url= http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/25/dining/25loca.html?pagewanted=all |accessdate=2008-08-23] Cite journal |first=Jennifer |last=Dumke |date= May/June 2007 |title=Eating In the Neighborhood: My 100 Mile Diet |journal = South Dakota Magazine |page=26—30 |volume =24 |issue=1 |ISSN=0886-2680] Some restaurants and caterers offered 100-mile menus. Some farmers, gardeners, or regional food producers began offering subscription services to deliver produce or urban farming or gardening services. The 100-mile diet spawned many variations to allow for various circumstances and motivations. Examples include the allowance of a few non-local items, like Barbara Kingsolver chose to include spices into her local diet, or expanding the geographic area to more convenient boundaries, like the economic region, or the entire state or province. A 'made-in-Manitoba' diet challenge led to a government Manitoba Food Charter recognizing and encouraging local food markets. [cite news |first =Laura |last =Rance |title = The 100-mile diet could be worth every step |work = Winnipeg Free Press |date = 15 September 2007 |page = B9]

References

External links

* [http://thetyee.ca/Series/2005/06/28/100Mile/ The original 100-mile diet articles]
* [http://www.cjly.net/deconstructingdinner/011107.htm Radio Broadcast of the 100-Mile Diet on Deconstructing Dinner]
* [http://www.100milechallenge.com Albany New York's Eat Local Challenge]
* [http://www.100milediet.org 100-Mile Diet Community]