August Farmers Market Salad: START THE CHALLENGE!
What if eating local this month was a little more fun? This August, Davidson County Local Food Network is challenging you to eat local and make one meal using as many locally grown ingredients as you can find. You don't need to buy everything locally. You don't need a complicated recipe. And you definitely don't need to be a professional chef. Just start with what's available.
Your August Challenge
Visit a local farmers market.
Find what's fresh and in season right now. Talk with a farmer and see what they recommend.
Can't make it to a weekend market? No problem! Piedmont Fresh offers another way to shop for locally grown food from area farmers and producers. Check out what's available and build your local meal from there. Choose at least 3 local ingredients. Pick your favorites or challenge yourself to find something you've never tried before. Make a meal. It can be a salad, sandwich, pizza, pasta, tacos, or anything else you dream up.
Share your local plate! Take a photo of your meal and share what local ingredients you used. Tag DCLFN so they can see what you're cooking up.
Start With a Salad
If the idea of cooking a whole meal from scratch feels a little intimidating, start with a salad!
Salads don't have to be complicated, and they aren't as scary as cooking a big meal. They're a perfect starter for anyone who is new to cooking with local ingredients — and they're quick to throw together.
And perhaps the best part? Salads are so customizable. Don't like cucumbers? Leave them out. Have extra peppers? Toss them in. Found fresh strawberries at the market? Add them. Want something heartier? Add local cheese, beans, eggs, or another protein. You can change a salad based on what you like, what you have in the refrigerator, and — most importantly for this challenge — what's fresh and available locally. There are no complicated cooking techniques, no long prep times, and no pressure to get it exactly right.
Make It Yours
The best part of this challenge? There are no wrong answers.
Can't find corn? Leave it out.
Have extra zucchini? Throw it in.
Found some beautiful peaches at the market? Add them.
Want to swap the cheese for something else? Go for it.
The goal isn't to follow a recipe perfectly. The goal is to look at what's growing around you and build a meal from it.
A Recipe Can Tell a Bigger Story
A salad like this may seem simple, but every ingredient can represent a connection within the local food system.
The tomatoes might come from one farm. The corn from another. The herbs from a home grower or small producer. The cheese from a local dairy.
One meal can bring several pieces of the food system together.
That's one of the things that makes local food special.
Why Take the Challenge?
When you choose local food, you're supporting more than what's going on your plate.
You're supporting the farmers who grow it, the producers who make it, the markets that connect farmers and consumers, and the local food network that helps bring all of those pieces together.
And you might discover something new along the way.
Maybe you'll find a new favorite farmer.
Maybe you'll try a vegetable you've never cooked before.
Maybe you'll discover that the best tomato salad you've ever had came from ingredients grown just down the road.
That's what this challenge is about. Not perfection. Not changing everything about the way you eat. Just making one more local connection.
So… Are You In?
This August, challenge yourself to eat local.
Visit a farmers market.
Shop Piedmont Fresh.
Pick up a few local ingredients.
Make a meal.
Share your plate.
Then challenge someone else to do the same.
Start small. Start with a salad. Start with what's in season.
Because sometimes, strengthening your local food system starts with something as simple as deciding what's for dinner.