Thanksgiving is steeped in tradition. Families have gathered for centuries to enjoy the bounty of the Fall harvest. Maybe some of your traditions include gathering at the same home, preparing your fabulous pumpkin pie, enjoying traditional Thanksgiving dishes, watching the football game, traveling home to see family, whatever they may be, breaking tradition is hard to do. My family enjoys the traditional Thanksgiving fare, every year, the same thing; turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, corn, sweet potatoes, jellied cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, lefse, and of course pie - pumpkin and apple. Not wanting to throw tradition out the window, but wishing to be mindful of the impact our feast leaves on the planet, I thought a little tradition tweaking was in order.
I kept the menu traditional, but changed the source of my ingredients. This year I opted to try the 100-mile Thanksgiving, choosing local ingredients for our meal. Research shows that on average food travels over 1,500 miles before it reaches our plate. There is a lot of fuel, energy, and pollution expelled in the journey. It has also been suggested that nutrients are lost in transit. Keeping your food miles limited to a locavore's guide of 100 miles benefits your family's health and the planet's.
To keep from blowing my family completely out of their comfort zone, I served the same traditional dishes, but injected some of my sustainability by using local ingredients.
100-Mile Thanksgiving Menu
Roasted Organic Turkey - 40 miles
- carrots - 37 miles
- parsnips - 32 miles
- celery - 2,000 miles (California)
- onion - 37 miles
- turnips - 37 miles
- butter - 40 miles
- dry white wine - 103 miles
Porcini and Sausage Stuffing
- porcini mushrooms - 12 miles
- slab bacon - 315 miles
- onion - 37 miles
- leek - 20 paces to my garden
- celery - 2,000 miles (California)
- garlic - 37 miles
- sweet Italian sausage - 23 miles
- liver from turkey - 40 miles
- white bread - 14 miles
- fresh thyme leaves - 4 steps outside my door
- giblet stock - see below
Giblet Stock
- neck, heart, and gizzard from turkey - 40 miles
- celery - 2,000 miles (California)
- carrots - 37 miles
- onion - 37 miles
- white mushrooms - 12 miles
- bay leaves - ???
- whole black peppercorns - ???
- coarse salt - ???
- fresh thyme - 4 steps outside my door
- flat-leaf parsley - 20 paces to my garden
My sister-in-law brought the mashed potatoes, I made the gravy.
Riesling Gravy
- pan juices from Roasted Turkey
- dry Riesling - 103 miles
- giblet stock - see above
- flour - 45 miles
- butter - 40 miles
Green Bean Casserole
- green beans - 5 miles
- morels - 36 miles
- butter - 40 miles
- garlic - 37 miles
- flour - 45 miles
- giblet stock - see above
- half & half - 40 miles
- bread - 14 miles
- French fried onions - ???
Cranberry Relish
- raw cranberries - 48 miles
- apples - 30 miles
- 1 orange - 2,000 miles (California)
- sugar - ???
I know holidays are exceptions to the rule and we tend to be more lenient, but that does not mean we have to throw all sustainability out the window. You can have a traditional feast with all the fixings - just look for them locally. You can have gifts at Christmas - just make them purposeful; like giving to charity, experiences, homemade, etc. Progress does not have to come at the expense of the past. No need to turn your back on tradition - just tweak it.
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1 comment:
Great Thanksgiving menu. We're trying to live by the 100 mile diet too. It's fun to sit down to supper and be able to say that all the food on the table came from local sources. (a few of our meals are within a 10 mile diet!)
It not only helps the planet, but the local economy too and I've noticed that it's tastier too!
Keep up the great work!
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