5 Ways to Eat Local

This week I challenged myself to eat only local foods for a full day. What I meant by “local” was that the products I’d be consuming were from Switzerland. I understand that Switzerland is a relatively small country and this might not work if you live in a much larger place. Try to reduce it to your state or region for example.

This experience really opened my eyes on a few things and I wanted to share some tips with you to make your life easier if you try to eat more locally.

Shop at the farmers market

No matter where you live in the World, I’m sure your town or one nearby has a weekly market. It’s a great place to shop for produce especially fruits and veggies. In Switzerland, it is sometimes slightly more expensive than the grocery stores, however, the quality is definitely higher in my experience. This means the fruits and vegetables contain more nutrients and will be more nourishing. It also simply just tastes better too and you do not have to be a fruit expert to notice the difference. Bread is also something you can get quite easily or even make your own sourdough out of local flour.

The grocery stores in Switzerland aren’t that bad and offer a large selection of Swiss fruit and veg, so this is obviously an option too. It’s convenient to get things such as flour, local oils and salt. Another reason why I prefer the farmers market is also the fact that all the produce is sold without packaging.

Finally, many farms offer a subscription service where you get your local veg box delivered each week. This is an amazing option for those who aren’t able to attend the farmers market or anyone who’d like this convenience. I have personally never tried it yet but am definitely looking into this option for the future.

Check your local bulk store

This will be a great place for you to find things such as cereals and beans. From my experience, finding local legumes and grains was nearly impossible in regular grocery stores. This is why I’d encourage anyone to check their local bulk stores for any extra things they might need to add more variety into their diet while still keeping it local.

Eat seasonal

That’s such an important step. Learning what locally grows during which season prevents you from buying imported foods. It’s so interesting to eat according to seasons because as you add what you believe is a restriction, in reality you’ll be amazed how creative you’ll get with what’s available. Finally, eating seasonally also makes you discover new fruits and veg that you may have never tried before.

Freeze for the future

The Winter months can get quite tough, especially if you live in a cold climate. My solution to this is to freeze any veg or fruit at other times of the year when that produce is in season so that you can use it later on and have more variety and options over the Winter months. My mom does this a lot and it’s always so enjoyable to be able to pick some frozen local berries or apricots in the Winter to make a tart. It’s super convenient and easy way to always have local fruits and veg on hand.

Grow your own food

I am aware that this one might not work for anyone. However, I believe that even if you live in a tiny apartment with no balcony, you could easily still have a few pots with aromatic herbs such as basil, mint and rosemary. I was very lucky to grow up in a family were both my mom and grandma had a veggie garden. Now, my boyfriend and I grow some veggies on our balcony and it’s such an enriching and fun experience to be able to eat your own homegrown tomatoes or zucchini. Finally, if you have friends or relatives with a garden, most cases are that they are not able to eat all the produce themselves. Ask them if you can help harvesting berries or any fruit they have and bring some home with you. In my personal experience, a lot of my friends or relatives are even happy to let me pick up however much I want from their fruit trees because they don’t eat much of it anyways and otherwise it’ll all go to waste. So really don’t hesitate to ask!