I have been checking the Eat Local Challenge site every day for updates but they haven’t posted anything since the “save the date” post. But I am starting tomorrow as planned and here are my rules/exceptions:

local = 150 mile radius
exceptions:

• garlic
• coffee (fair trade only)
• tea
• Texmati rice (checking to see how far away this is grown but definitely in Texas)
• soy milk (because my coffee has to be beige)
• spices
• olive oil (however I have some Texas oil that was made in Carrizo Springs – 196 mi.)

Here is the part about tofu. Matt went to the Austin Farmers Market on Saturday and found some tofu but didn’t ask the guy anything about it. So I will be going there this Saturday in hopes of finding him and getting some info. I was going to list Banyan Foods tofu as an exception but I had a weird experience today. I called them to ask where they get their soybeans from and the guy on the phone told me he wasn’t allowed to tell me. I told him I wanted to know because I wanted my tofu to come from as close to Austin as possible and since Banyan is in Houston I was hoping that they used Texas soybeans at least. Side note, I am having a hard time finding Texas soybean information and this is something I found (however from 2007):

(photo no longer available for some reason – but it showed a drastic decrease in soybean harvesting in Texas)

So a definite decline but really not a lot of info. Anyway, the Banyan guy says all he can tell me is that their soybeans are non-GMO and grown in the mid-west. Grown in the US but not grown in Texas. I asked him why he can’t tell me where they get them and he doesn’t even know, just that he was instructed to not disclose that information. Monsanto, anyone?