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‘Eat Local Week’ highlights Utah’s local food, agriculture and harvest season

SALT LAKE CITY – From September 10 -17 Eat Local Week Utah, a community-wide celebration of the harvest and those who labor to produce it, is scheduled. Eat Local Week promotes local agriculture and the preservation of Utah’s agricultural heritage, and brings people together around the food they eat. Through a series of activities and events around the state, Eat Local Week Utah seeks to educate people about resources for eating locally, and increase awareness about food production, transportation, and access to healthy food for all.

Utah Governor Gary Herbert has shown his support of Eat Local Week Utah by officially declaring September 10 – 17 “Eat Local Week” in the state. “‘Eat Local Week’ is my favorite week of the year, because it really does challenge us to learn more about where our food comes from, and how much we grow and produce right here in our own state,” says Alison Einerson, one of the steering committee members and manager of the Downtown Farmers Market.  “From local meats to produce to dairy and cheeses, you can find virtually everything you want to eat made right here in Utah. Food is truly a resource that binds us all, and connects our state rural and urban communities.”

The purpose of Eat Local Week and the Eat Local Challenge is to increase awareness around food production, transportation, and consumption in Utah, and to educate our community about the many resources for eating locally. The Week also aims to support local food producers, growers, farmers and purveyors.

A cornerstone of Eat Local Week is the “Eat Local Challenge,” which challenges people to eat and drink food that is grown or produced within a 250 mile radius of their home for one week. Now in its 9th year, the Eat Local Challenge is an opportunity for Utahns to garner a closer connection to food sources. eatlocalweek.org contains several resources to where to shop for local food, as well as recipe ideas.

Utahns are encouraged to craft the challenge level of their choice: a strict option—no coffee, no chocolate, no olive oil, is one example. Alternatively, participants can choose specific food groups that are easy to obtain locally (produce, meats, dairy) and stay truly local to them for a week.

The goal of the challenge is to engage people to discover how much food we grow and produce in our region, and to show how changing small daily habits can have a profound effect on our health, our economy, and our diet. The Eat Local Challenge is a unique opportunity to learn more about local food and to foster creativity around what and how we feed ourselves, at the height of the harvest season.

 

Eat Local Week events include the following: