100-mile diet-memories

[shootingstar]

Just been watching an episode of food network canada show, 100-Mile Diet Challenge...which is based on the book for eating meals made of ingredients raised within 100 miles (ok, let's expand this beyond 100kms. for more choices???).

http://100mile.foodtv.ca/webisode/slow-food-cycle

I suddenly realized that my mother DID prepare many meals often 100 mile based diet, when I was a child.

After all, Asian ingredients and tropical fruits (mango, papaya, pineapple, longans/dragon eyes, rambutans, etc. ) were far more rare in any grocery store in small Ontario city in 1960's, outside of Toronto. Ok, we had soy sauce, which lasted ages, because she MADE this rare bottle at that time, last long.. 2 tablespoons to flavour 1 dish for 8 people.

Other than that ..rice and oranges, we had alot of meals, some strange concoctions that my mother just wasn't familiar with certain ingredients locally. Now I do have proof, you can have children eat locally and decently..they just have to tolerate some strange experiments.

I do remember being bored..with potatoes, the local starch which she served only 2-3 times per month...until she invented a tastier way which involved a marinade of ketchup, soy sauce, green onions, (ok, there still is a ketchup-making plant in tomato-growing country ...a little over 150 miles away from childhood city) thrown with sliced local pork and all roasted.