National Running Day

National Running Day is a national initiative to promote a healthy and active lifestyle through running. According to the runningday.org website, today (Wednesday, June 3, 2009) is the inaugural day.

Running is considered one of the best activities for improving general health. It can help people lose and/or manage their weight, boost the immune system, prevent muscle and bone loss that comes with age and fight diseases such as osteoporosis, diabetes, and hypertension. It also helps relieve stress and boost confidence. And don't forget the "runners high", a feeling of exhilaration brought on by running.

Join in the fun, get out there and run. It doesn't matter how long or how fast. Just take the initiative and do it. Take your kids with you, it'll be an opportunity to spend time together while teaching them the importance of exercising.

RunningDay.org lists the 7 reasons you should run:

Because of changes in diet and lifestyle, Americans are increasingly at risk for diseases that can significantly diminish the quality, productivity, and length of their lives. The time to act is now.

• Nationwide, the annual medical expense for juvenile obesity is more than $127 million annually.


• Health-care expenses and productivity losses related to obesity problems cost Americans more than $100 billion annually.


• Currently, obesity-related illnesses cause some 300,000 deaths a year. Inactivity and poor diet will soon overtake smoking as the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.


• Overweight youth ages 10 to 15 have an 80% chance of becoming obese adults by age 25.


• Only one in four kids gets at least 30 minutes of physical activity each day. Kids and teens obesity rates have doubled in the past 20 years.

Exercise – and running, in particular – is one solution to combating these health issues.

• According to the American Sports Data 2007 Superstudy of Sports Participation, 39.5 million people in the United States ran or jogged at least once, and 11.7 million ran more than 100 days/year.


• In 2008, according to Running USA, there were 9.2 million finishers in road races (ranging in distance from the 5K to the Marathon), a 4 percent increase from the 8.8 million finishers in 2007.

100 Mile Harvest Guiding Principles

On Monday, May 11, 2009, our family started the second phase of 100 Mile Harvest. Though we will remain locavores, we will transition from an omnivore diet to a vegetarian lifestyle. The principles will remain the same; we will be eating primarily local, organic/sustainably grown produce while avoiding all processed food, including refined and artificial sweeteners, white flour, white rice, corn, and any products that contain them.

To ease into vegetarianism, our family agreed to re-introduce a list of nutritional items that we have missed and will make the transition easier. We call this list the Survival Kit. Every item was studied and discussed carefully, not only for its nutritional value, but for it's "desirability index." Items were added by family consensus. We agreed that any products in the Survival Kit would have to be organic, sustainable and fair-trade.

Guiding Principles

• Eat whole, unprocessed food


• Eat mostly local, organic and/or sustainably grown fruits, vegetables and legumes


• Eat organic oats and quinoa


• Eat organic, raw nuts


• Eat eggs and dairy from pasture-fed animals


• Use low-glycemic, plant-based sweeteners (stevia and raw agave nectar)


• Use coconut oil for high-heat cooking and olive oil for salad dressings

Things we will avoid:

• Commercially canned, processed, frozen and prepackaged foods


• Refined sweeteners such as sugar, dextrose, glucose, high fructose corn syrup


• White flour, white flour products, white rice and corn products


• Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats and oils


• Genetically modified foods


• Artificial food coloring and additives

See our 2nd year rules.

A Year of Local Eating

On May 11, 2008, our family committed to a year of eating only locally grown food in an effort to learn how our food choices impact our health and our environment. This journey not only brought our family closer than we could have ever imagined, but it also allowed us to live a more conscientious and eco-friendly existence.

It has also awakened in us a deeper appreciation for the people behind the food, whose care and dedication in farm fields and backyard gardens have made 100 Mile Harvest possible. We are forever grateful for their generosity and commitment to producing sustainable food.

We invite you to join us in the next phase of our locavore journey, as we transition to a Vegetarian Lifestyle in pursuit of a greater level of sustainability.

Reason #1 for Eating Local Food

To Shape the Future of Food

"You must be the change you want to see in the world."

– Mahatma Gandhi

Every decision we make as individuals has consequences. That is no less true of our food choices than in any other aspect of our lives.

For our family, it wasn't enough just to to recognize the impact food had on our health and the environment. We had to understand the alternatives and be an active part of the solution. We knew early on this would require some sacrifices, especially in terms of convenience. But we also felt that were ultimately going to be responsible for our actions.

Though most of us will never spend a day laboring on a farm, we are all co-creators of our agricultural system. The food we find in supermarkets, convenience stores and restaurants is just as much a reflection of our choices as it is the workings of factory farms, government policy and marketers.

Every day we hear of the epidemic of obesity and other threats to our health and safety posed by agri-business. Some of us are unaware of how all of these issues are interrelated; or, we feel like we have no choice and are unable to change course, hoping that others can ensure our safety.

Instead, we all need to understand that we exert a tremendous market-based influence through our purchases. With each dollar we spend, we are supporting a certain model of food production and delivery. The question we should ask ourselves is whether we are supporting a system that is aligned with our values and our vision for the future.

By accepting only local, seasonal food, our family is casting a vote for sustainable agriculture. Won't you join us in shaping the future of food?

Reason #2 for Eating Local Food

It's Environmentally Friendly – Food Travels Less Distance

In recent years, the concept of "food miles" is one that has helped green-leaning consumers understand the environmental impact of our food choices. When we read that the average item on an American dinner plate has traveled 1,500 miles, we looked in our own pantry and found that most of our food was being shipped long distances; our food really was better traveled than we were!

The 2001 study that produced that figure was far from complete – it was limited to 10 fresh produce items in an Iowa supermarket. However, if you consider the exponential increase of "food miles'" that a processed food would represent (multiple ingredients with their own origins), the implications are certainly greater. Though a wider follow-up study has yet to be completed, if you are in any way concerned about your carbon footprint, this is an area that deserves action. While our food is going to rack up food miles regardless of the source (unless it's homegrown), choosing local food is an easy and effective way to keep these distances in check.

Remember also that food miles are just a part of the story. Buying seasonally is a good principle for reducing your carbon footprint. Much of the unseasonal produce in America's supermarkets is coming in from warmer climates abroad.

You might even find unseasonal items in farmers' markets – tomatoes, squash and herbs are sometimes grown in hothouses or using hydroponic methods. Keep in mind that generating heat artificially or running hydroponic systems to raise crops increases greenhouse gas production.

We've radically cut down our food miles and learned to make better choices about the items we buy, and when we buy them. Have you started on your low-carbon diet?

Reason #3 for Eating Local Food

Food Security

Over the last year, as we bought only the best and freshest local produce, we were reminded of the dangers of a centralized, industrial food system.

During the first months of our project, during peak tomato season, consumers throughout the United States and Canada were being advised not to eat tomatoes as a salmonella outbreak continued for over 6 months. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has linked 1,442 cases of illness to this contamination. It was later discovered that serrano peppers, not tomatoes, were to blame – this illustrates the challenge of tracking and managing (and investigating) such an outbreak through a centralized food system.

In January of this year, we got another taste of salmonella; this time it was traced to peanut butter. Though the processing plant responsible for the contamination was quickly identified, the sheer number of brands and products included in the recall reached across school cafeterias, snack foods, meal replacement bars and more.

Food safety is always an expectation, and the failing of our system to prevent such widespread foodborne illness is a clear message that we can't trust factory farms and the centralized distribution model to ensure safety, regardless of the economy of scale they offer.

Buying locally has spared us these worries, and that alone is a huge reward.

But food security is also about the regional availability of food. When Hurricane Ike devastated the Gulf Coast on September 13, 2008, many Houston residents went as long as three weeks without electricity. Just three days after the Hurricane, the first farmers' market reopened, giving us access to fresh food once again. In contrast, most supermarkets in the area remained bare for another week, as it took time to restore normal distribution of perishable food items.

We've discovered both the obvious and subtle ways in which a local food economy enhances a community's access to safe, healthy and abundant food. Have you?

Reason #4 for Eating Local Food

It's Healthier for You – Whole Foods Without the Pesticides

When you buy local food from a sustainable or organic farmer, you are not consuming any of the synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers that are routinely sprayed on conventionally-grown produce. On large-scale conventional farms practicing monoculture, these have become standard procedures, given the threat of pest infestations and reduced land fertility (problems created by these very practices).

However, sustainable farmers seek ways to enrich the soil through resource management, taking into account the interdependency of air quality, land use and water management. Biodiversity (production of more than a single crop) supplies a natural way to replenish the soil. It also promotes resilience when a specific crop type is attacked by a disease or infestation. This leads to crops that are robust and superior in quality, flavor and nutrient profile.

As we learned more about these different farming practices, we understood that only sustainable farming could provide us with wholesome, healthy and nutritious food uncompromised by an arsenal of pesticides, fungicides and other man-made chemicals.

Whole, natural foods are the life-giving raw materials needed to nurture our bodies and help us achieve an optimal state of health. Are you nurturing your body with quality foods?