Our $25 Per Week Will Impact Wichita

I love the "garden" at Exploration Place!

Last year I blogged about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), and the programs available in the Wichita area.  This year, take some time to check out Fiat Farm and their CSA program which is new to our area.  I found their post titled "Why Community Supported Agriculture" to be an accurate and motivating description of why a CSA subscription is a great idea.

Plus, I've added a new page to the blog called "Community Supported Agriculture."  You can find all the programs in our area on that page.  Please contact me if you know of others, as always, the pages on this site are community created pages - I need you!

While Chris and I would love to get a CSA subscription, our future is not certain enough to actually purchase one this year.  Meaning, we hope to move to a smaller community in this area, and am not sure a subscription in Wichita is a good idea for us.  (By the way, we've got a great house with an organic garden, asparagus patch, grape vine, and area for chickens on the market - just in case you know someone who is looking ;)  Rather than a CSA, this season we've pledged to spend no less than $25 per week on local foods.

Why $25?  Because of this post I wrote last year which drew a lot of attention, especially from those of you who feel guilty that you can't or don't spend more money on local foods.  The truth is, $10 per person per week will make a huge impact on the local economy, as I wrote last year.  So for our family of 2 1/2 (yes, we're considering our 1 year old a half person), we're spending $10 each locally, and I plan to blog about what we purchase.  So, if you need a little extra motivation, join the challenge with us and spend $10 on local foods each week this season...and share your purchases with me as I share mine with you!

Here's to a great local foods season!

Really? Local honey is a cure...does that really work?

"Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food."  

-Hippocrates, father of medicine, 431 BC

At the state fair a couple years ago, a man was selling local bee pollen and honey, claiming they helped with seasonal allergies.  I didn't pay much attention to him because I hadn't dealt with seasonal allergies since I was a child, and yes, as a child I took bee pollen capsules.  They weren't "local" bee pollen capsules, we didn't know the value of the word local at that time.

Fast forward to the last couple weeks.  I've been dealing with major...MAJOR...nose problems.  Allergies.  My allergies are back.  Coupled with a deviated septum which I'm due to have repaired March 20th (no horror stories, please), I've been pretty miserable the last couple weeks.

I posted a note on my Facebook page, hoping for a cure.  Local honey...local honey...local honey.  That was the response I continued to get.  Huh, how did I miss that one?  In the (very) limited amount of research I've done, it appears that there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that allergies are alleviated by the regular intake of local honey (along with hangovers, afternoon fatigue, and anxiety). I read there is only one "official" scientific study which doesn't support the use of honey and states it has a placebo effect.  So, I have to go with anecdotal evidence but I'm really okay with that since, well, I love local honey!  And the more local the better - I gotta get those back yard bees.

How about you - anyone out there in blog land want to give me some positive anecdotal evidence that honey works for allergies?  Tell me your story.  What is the "dosage" that works, or worked, for you?  Please leave me a comment or email me personally at localfoodies@yahoo.com.

Yummy, yummy, honey in my tummy!