Life after Locavore

It is interesting to think it has been two months since my local living challenge was completed. What has changed for me since then...not a whole lot. I still do my weekly shopping at the farmers market, still thrifted my Halloween costume and still support local business. The only difference is now I choose to do so out of my own free will instead of needing to for a project.

Cabbage Catch-of-the-Day

The first time I went to order a drink I was struck with the notion I could now order anything I wanted, the power of choice was entirely my own for the first time in a year. I looked at the myriad of drinks on display, read the drink menu and even consulted the bartender for ideas. In the end I ordered the same thing I had been ordering all along, the local beer on tap. For all the choices and freedom I was now experiencing I had something else nagging me at the back of my head...a conscious. I had rather un-deliberately set myself up for a life of conscious decision making.

So what does this mean for my future and the choices I will undoubtedly need to make?

Wild Mushrooms from the Market

When I was entirely local I heard about local ice cream being sold at the 7-11. Locally sourced Ice Cream from a corporate chain was one of those little annoyances I used to abhor, now I weigh the pro's and con's carefully before making my choices. I shop expiring items at the grocery store, yet still have only ventured there twice this year. I browse the local section at Save -On and still buy from producers directly. I make choices based on my values and then feel comfortable with my decisions. and that's what i hope if anything others can learn from this experience. You don't have to bee 100% local to understand why local is important but you do need to act on the values that you preach to others.

So let's live more honestly, make better choices for ourselves and the environment and be authentically ourselves.

Love,

Melanie XX

"You are free to make whatever choice you want, but you are not free from the consequences of the choice." Ezra Taft Benson

The 5 More Times I Failed at Being a Locavore

I originally wrote 5 Times I Failed at Being a Locavore but have since needed to add to that list.
Here are 5 more times I slipped up and purchased outside of my BC region:

1. Sim Card
• I bought a used iPhone 5 and thought I could just cut down my sim card to fit into the new smaller model... but it turns out it is a different card all together, so I had to buy a new sim card from Telus to go with the new phone. #fail
2. Drinks



I don't think that bucket of
alcohol is local....

• Those drinks my friends bought me at the bar in return for me buying dinner was a total cheat of the system, I admit it, I failed, it was the alcohol talking. 
3. Greyhound
• If you can't find a ride you can't go...should be my new rule but on planned holidays sometimes you have to bite the bullet and pay for a bus. It is better on emissions then a flight and at least I don't drive myself however I recognise that greyhound is an international company and therefor makes this list. 
4. VIA Rail
• Trains are the most sustainable way to travel cross country. I went to a conference in Toronto and then hopping over to Ottawa for a quick family visit before the school year. Travel in itself should be off my list if I was 100% local but sometimes all the sacrifices you make during the year will hopefully help you offset the annual pilgrimage to visit your parents. (You can hear about my trip in this post- VIA: The more (in)human way to travel?)
5. Medicine



Vancouver, BC- Natures Medicine

• In general I try not to take medications whenever possible. I stopped taking Tylenol for headaches or arthritis pain (yes, I have pretty bad arthritis for my age) instead trying to live through the aches and using natural remedies. However, once this year I was so sick that I broke down and bought cold and flu medicine from the drug store. In my defence I chose a small independent pharmacy in town and bought the no name product...but I still felt like a failure for needing drugs. Full disclosure over the year i bought, one back of Fisherman's Friends, cold medicine, and a prescription inhaler... 

Cheers to making mistakes and learning from them!

Melanie 

"A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new."- Albert Einstein