Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Have an Eco Get-Together: Throw a Local Food Potluck!

Eating food in groups is a vital social experience. To share in the joys of a good meal, cooked with care and skill, and garnished with loving attention brings people together. It’s a great excuse to get your friends and family together, too. What social event is really complete without a hearty meal? Well, here’s a suggestion to spruce up your next get-together, with an eco twist. Throw a local foods potluck!
Perhaps you’ve never had the fortune to attend a potluck before. Basically, it’s an event where each person brings a dish to contribute to the whole group. It’s usually unplanned, so you never know what the full meal will entail. It’s a great way to get people involved in contributing to an event. But instead of just any old potluck, why not make it interesting?

Think Local for Your Next Potluck Meal

Challenge your friends and families to a local food potluck. Encourage that all guests bring a dish that features local, seasonal foods, with as few imported ingredients as possible. Inspire your friends to be creative: suggest that guests peruse farmers markets for fresh organic ingredients. What would a menu look like that only featured local, seasonal produce, cheeses, meats, and beverages? More importantly, how would it taste?
When guests present their food at the potluck, ask them what the ingredients are and where they are from. How many food miles have guests’ dishes traveled? It’s a great way to get people excited about supporting and eating local foods if they can participate in an event where they can be creative about cooking with fresh, seasonal ingredients.
Try it out! Next time you want to get together with your friends, suggest a local foods potluck challenge!

http://blog.sustainablog.org/local-food-potluck/