Seasonal and Local Foods

[emily]

Hi! I'm new here, and while I have never had an all-raw diet, my vegetarian/almost vegan husband and I are trying to incorporate more raw foods into our life (we have salad dinners often or just fruit for breakfast. tried RP's brownies, and they were gone in a day!). Sooo... we also want to eat more locally (live in Vancouver, BC - lots of farmers nearby, thankfully) and seasonally, but as I look through raw recipes and food suggestions, it seems really difficult to eat a raw diet that is largely seasonal and local. We don't have local avocadoes, bananas, dates, mangoes, any of that! My main concern is fats, b/c all raw vegan fats seem to be from tropical countries. Is there anyone who is attempting seasonal/local with their raw diet? Or any suggestions?

[swingbolder]

I live in the Northeast of the US, where the growing season is from spring to late autumn. We have TONS of local farmers and I do eat a lot of locally grown food during those months. Everything from leafy greens and other veggies to fruits in season like berries, apples, pears. I am a member of a community farm and get my stuff directly from the farmers. However, some of my staples (avocados, bananas, oranges) don't grow in this region, so that stuff I eat imported.

I don't feel guilty about it. I figure my health is as good a reason as any with respect to the use of petrol for shipping things long distances.

If I were trying to eat a raw diet strictly on locally grown food, I would move to a climate with a year-round growing season. The thought has crossed my mind.

Otherwise, I don't see how eating raw/locally would be possible unless your diet in the winter months consisted solely of sprouts, fermented raw foods like kimchee, dried or frozen foods and anything else that could be preserved longterm.