100 Mile Diet

Location: 100 miles around you
Years: 2006-present
Founders: James MacKinnon and Alisa Smith

http://100milediet.org/

The 100 Mile Diet was a way for James and Alisa to start thinking locally. They went into the diet cold turkey and continued it for an enitre year. The guidelines were simply to eat only food produced within 100 miles of their location. It started as a personal journey, but has gained much attention in both Canada and the United States. They promote the 100-Mile Diet as a means to learning about food by doing: “Getting to know the seasons. Understanding where our food comes from, and at what risk to our health and to the environment. Sorting out how we all ended up eating apples that taste like cardboard and cakes made with petrochemicals. It was a challenge, but a good one - a genuine adventure.” In both books and their website, James and Alisa share with others their experience eating locally and give advice to others who would like to follow suit.

















They are now pushing an initiative called the 100 Mile Thanksgiving which encourages Americans to really think about where their getting their food from on Thanksgiving. Since the initiative started in 2006, tens of thousands of Americans have annually made the choice to have a 100 Mile Thanksgiving in which their entire meal consisted of food produced within 100 miles. The campaign has been so successful that readers from all over the country have written in to share their stories as well as recipes for local foods in areas throughout the country.