In truth, the title of this article isn’t entirely true. There are lots of pre-packaged ice cream vendors, supermarkets selling bananas, and yes, McDonald’s in every major town. But for the two days I spent in the seaside town of Peniche, Portugal, it was pretty hard not to eat local.

The funny thing was that nobody even talked about the food being local or seasonal or fresh. It was assumed to be. But when my girlfriend and I started raving about how orange-y the oranges were, how plump and succulent the strawberries were, and how shockingly orange the egg yolks were, our hosts felt obliged to explain to us poor deprived Americans where these wonders had come from.

I’ve fallen in love with lacto-fermented chutneys, so much so that I’m considering turning all the vinegar-based chutneys I canned into ketchup (ketchup is basically just pureed chutney). The flavor of these fresh chutneys is so good that I could, and do, eat them straight out of the jar. Plus you get all sorts of health benefits that aren’t in the vinegar versions; lacto-fermented foods have good-for-you bacteria in them, like with yogurt.

The recipe below is a Northeastern locavore’s variation on one by Sally Fallon (I swap in just a little vinegar to replace non-local lemon juice, and local honey instead of Rapadura). This chutney is an especially good use up for the storage apples we’re still getting from local farms at this time of year. But it’s also good made with peaches, cherries, and other fruit.

Santa Fe is a soulful place for me. I’ve traveled here often since I was a kid and, upon arriving, my pulse slows down a bit and my breath deepens. It is one of the few places where I don’t feel like I have to have a plan and a busy day usually means I have a spa appointment or dinner reservations.

“What do you eat in winter?” is a question I frequently get asked when people learn that I eat a mostly local foods diet in the Northeastern U.S.

My reply starts with the fact that I eat just as well in winter as I do in summer. That fact really cheers me up right now. We are at the tail end of winter, but it will still be many weeks until the first spring crops are ready. If I only ate the storage and greenhouse crops available year-round here, well, I’d survive but my meals would be really boring.

Here’s how you can make your “off season” meals as interesting and nutritious for you as the ones you eat during the harvest months, all the while keeping a locavore’s lowered carbon footprint:

When it comes to snapping turtles and carpenter bees, I’m clueless. It wasn’t in any textbook of mine, nor in my backyard growing up: Nature eludes me.

In his book, The Town that Food Saved, Hewitt doesn’t spend a lot of time going over the depressing statistics relating to food miles and the obesity epidemic–those facts are present, but they’re a side-line to the main focus–which is how a local food system gets built, what it might look like, and how long-time residents of a community might react to it being built on their home turf.

There are few books that gives enough importance to the value of food consciousness without arousing paranoia. It would need to tell the story of good, clean food without getting too scientific or political, instead emphasizing the spiritual importance of responsible eating. I came across just such a book recently, and decided to arrange an interview with the author, Terry Walters.

This week’s link roundup includes several links from prominent news sources on developments and challenges in the organic and real food industry, as well as some political updates. Also included at the end are some handy online tools for your quest to eat sustainably. Enjoy!

Until recently I had no idea what to do with lettuce but use it in a salad. Then, I ate at one of the Austin food trailers that specializes in locally grown food, Odd Duck Farm to Trailer, and they were serving grilled Romaine. I was surprised and intrigued by how much flavor the cooked lettuce had.

Murray’s Cheese Shop in NYC is bringing a little taste of Vermont to you. Join us as we host Tracey Medeiros, author of the “Dishing Up Vermont” cookbook for a book signing here in the West Village. Every ticket buys you a copy of the book, a glass of wine, a taste of one of her recipes, and a chance to speak with Tracey in-person.