FFS 004 - The 100-Mile Diet

For Food's Sake

This week, I talk to Canadian best-selling author James Mackinnon about eating local and the local food movement.

James has won more than a dozen national and international writing awards in categories ranging from essays, to science writing, to travelogue. His latest book, The Once and Future World, is a national bestseller in Canada and won the US Green Prize for Sustainable Literature. He’s also a contributor to the New Yorker on consumer issues and ecology, has publications in National Geographic and Reader’s Digest, and also works in the field of interactive documentaries.

In this episode, we discuss his best-selling book The 100-mile Diet, which he co-authored, and which is widely recognized as a catalyst of the local foods movement.

We’ll explore:

• What exactly a local diet is
• The many reasons for choosing to eat local
• The challenges and misconceptions surrounding local diets
• How the local food movement has transformed in the last decade
• The prospects for local diets and the locavore movement in the future.

As part of my new project – Learn by Doing – I will be adopting the 100-mile diet as part of a 7-day challenge. In the coming days and weeks, I'll be sharing my experience, tips & tricks on eating a local diet in mini-podcasts, as well as on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the For Food's Sake website.