No Impact Week: Day 4

Hey everyone,
IT’S FOOD DAY! This is the day I was most looking forward to. Like most people, I LOVE FOOD, I am open to anything and especially anything different. In Cleveland we have so many great options because we are so close to local growers and producers; you have to actually try to not eat locally. There are so many benefits from eating locally; mostly cheaper, supports the local economy, and always fresher. What I love about the restaurants that serve food made from local ingredients is the pride they have in doing so. It makes me feel so much better about what I am about to eat.
There is this bistro across from Cleveland state called Elements, and for the past 2 years it has been my savior between classes. Have you ever had college cafeteria food? Anyway, Elements gets most of their food from local growers and producers and they make it known. Ohio City Pasta is a big favorite of theirs and they have turned me on to so many new dishes that I can’t even count. The sous chef, Amy will come out and hand me my food every now and then and she will rattle off every local ingredient that is my dish with a keen smile and a look of amazement, it seems like she surprise herself sometimes.
To me, eating locally is one of the most important things in striving for a sustainable community. Eating should be a very human social interaction; and when it is done with the resources of a community it can only bring people closer. It’s a good conversation over dinner with friends, or a first date that went exceptionally wonderful that makes the food that much better, or maybe it’s the other way around? The point is that when you keep the food local, you are strengthening the community and individuals through a bond.
I want to see more of this in the Heights, I want to see more community gardens, maybe a community farmers market, anything to establish ourselves as a frontrunner in a sustainable food movement. Now I love the east side, but it seems to me that the west side is doing a lot to distinguish themselves as local food economy. Check out Ohio City Pasta, or the Great lakes Brewery, West Side Market; they’re all on to something, and they’re all proud of it.
There’s more to come from me today, I’ll talk to you guys soon, my buddies and I are heading out in search of local food in Cleveland

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