What do you think?
Rate this book
Locavore's Handbook: The Busy Person's Guide To Eating Local On A Budget
These days, nearly everyone wants to eat green and local, but tight schedules and even tighter budgets can make it seem like an unattainable goal. The Locavore's The Busy Person's Guide to Eating Local on a Budget is here to help, as author Leda Meredith guides readers to incorporate locally grown foods into their own meals with practical, down-to-earth advice.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
6 people are currently reading
201 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
August 22, 2010
Leda Meredith, when she talks about eating local food, speaks from experience: in 2007-2008 she embarked on "The 250": a year of eating, "almost exclusively foods grown or raised within a 250-mile radius" of her apartment (1).
Reassuringly, part of Meredith's point in this book is that eating locally doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing proposition: according to a quote from Eating Well Magazine that she includes in the book, "Buying 25% of your groceries from local farmers of a year lowers your carbon footprint by 225 pounds—even more than recycling glass, plastic, and cans" (1). And, as she also points out, eating locally can be a real pleasure: local food tastes good: fruits and veggies from a farmers market, CSA share, or a garden are often more flavorful than their grocery store counterparts, both because they're fresher and because, unlike supermarket fare, they're still being bred for taste, not just appearance and shelf life. Eating locally can also make you feel more aware of and connected to the place where you live: I like the way Meredith talks about getting to know local farmers and local geogrpahy, and thinking about the places where her food comes from as she prepares and eats it; I also like the idea of thinking about "what here tastes like," a phrase Meredith originally wanted to use for this book's title (6).
Well, I knew all that, but it was good to be reminded.
This book is quite NYC-centric, which I didn't mind: I mean, I live here, so Meredith's local food is my local food too; we even live in the same neighborhood. But if you're not in New York, this book would probably be less interesting and less useful to you.
Still, there are some general points that I think Meredith articulates well. Like when she advocates "a reverse approach to recipes," nothing that "after decades of having everything available all the time at the supermarket, people have gotten used to a recipe-first approach to cooking [...:] you decide what you're having for dinner, make a shopping list based on your chosen menu, and then hit the store to get the ingredients you need. Never mind that those ingredients may not look very good that day" (49). Eating locally requires a shift in meal-planning: you start with the foods at the market or in the CSA share; if you're eating a semi-local diet, you then figure out what else you might want to buy that will go well with that fennel, or that chard, or whatever it is. This was a really good reminder for me right now. Some of the other sections, like the parts about gardening and preserving and foraging, are less relevant to me but still interesting, although in these sections, as in the book as a whole, Meredith's writing is sometimes a bit repetitive. Even so, I'm glad to have read this book: it motivated me to organize my fridge and write down all my CSA veggies so I know what I have that needs using up, and it provided me with recipes for refrigerator pickles, lacto-fermented snap beans, and crustless dandelion green quiche. Yes!
Reassuringly, part of Meredith's point in this book is that eating locally doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing proposition: according to a quote from Eating Well Magazine that she includes in the book, "Buying 25% of your groceries from local farmers of a year lowers your carbon footprint by 225 pounds—even more than recycling glass, plastic, and cans" (1). And, as she also points out, eating locally can be a real pleasure: local food tastes good: fruits and veggies from a farmers market, CSA share, or a garden are often more flavorful than their grocery store counterparts, both because they're fresher and because, unlike supermarket fare, they're still being bred for taste, not just appearance and shelf life. Eating locally can also make you feel more aware of and connected to the place where you live: I like the way Meredith talks about getting to know local farmers and local geogrpahy, and thinking about the places where her food comes from as she prepares and eats it; I also like the idea of thinking about "what here tastes like," a phrase Meredith originally wanted to use for this book's title (6).
Well, I knew all that, but it was good to be reminded.
This book is quite NYC-centric, which I didn't mind: I mean, I live here, so Meredith's local food is my local food too; we even live in the same neighborhood. But if you're not in New York, this book would probably be less interesting and less useful to you.
Still, there are some general points that I think Meredith articulates well. Like when she advocates "a reverse approach to recipes," nothing that "after decades of having everything available all the time at the supermarket, people have gotten used to a recipe-first approach to cooking [...:] you decide what you're having for dinner, make a shopping list based on your chosen menu, and then hit the store to get the ingredients you need. Never mind that those ingredients may not look very good that day" (49). Eating locally requires a shift in meal-planning: you start with the foods at the market or in the CSA share; if you're eating a semi-local diet, you then figure out what else you might want to buy that will go well with that fennel, or that chard, or whatever it is. This was a really good reminder for me right now. Some of the other sections, like the parts about gardening and preserving and foraging, are less relevant to me but still interesting, although in these sections, as in the book as a whole, Meredith's writing is sometimes a bit repetitive. Even so, I'm glad to have read this book: it motivated me to organize my fridge and write down all my CSA veggies so I know what I have that needs using up, and it provided me with recipes for refrigerator pickles, lacto-fermented snap beans, and crustless dandelion green quiche. Yes!
December 10, 2025
It’s pretty good at giving some general ideas about what you can do to eat more local foods instead of factory farmed stuff. However it can get a bit repetitive, and sometimes it sounds a little preachy and privileged.
It is also very “local” to the USA and particularly NYC, which is completely understandable since that’s where the author is from. Most of the “useful resources” the author shares are US-only so it may not be as useful for someone like me who is living in a completely different country and hemisphere. It did inspire me to try to find some local versions of what she describes so it’s still a good start.
It is also very “local” to the USA and particularly NYC, which is completely understandable since that’s where the author is from. Most of the “useful resources” the author shares are US-only so it may not be as useful for someone like me who is living in a completely different country and hemisphere. It did inspire me to try to find some local versions of what she describes so it’s still a good start.
October 29, 2014
This is a very practical, hands-on guide to actually eating locally sourced foods! Many of the other local-food books are a memoir of the experiments of the author, intended to inspire you towards eating local. That's all well and good, but most of the time those authors are not only getting paid to do this (because hey....they're journalists!) but they are also upper-middle class citizens with a good background knowledge in food systems and culinary or nutrition studies. So yeah, I may be inspired by your story but I have no idea how to take those lofty ideals and integrate them into my more common lifestyle. The Locavore's handbook walks you through what it actually takes to eat local. Leda did an amazing job of covering all the barriers to eating local she could think of, such as single households, lack of space, low income, and inexperience with basic cooking and food preservation techniques. Each area she covers is by no means a complete resource; she could probably easily write a book on each topic instead of just the chapter she allotted. But it does a great job of showing that local food is not as exotic or difficult as you might think when you read some of the other books on the subject. (Coming Home to Eat by Gary Paul Nabhan comes to mind!)
A fantastic resource for anyone interested in incorporating more local foods into their diet, but especially for those who have no idea where to start!
A fantastic resource for anyone interested in incorporating more local foods into their diet, but especially for those who have no idea where to start!
April 26, 2012
Ms. Meredith wanted to get away from it all, to live close to the soil, live pure, clean and healthy. However, as a city woman, she didn’t really want to go back to the farm. So she did the next best thing: she started questioning where her food was coming from and where her grocery money was going. Besides getting some rather disturbing answers, she came up with solutions, viable ones for the city dweller and suburbanite alike.
Within this book are stories about getting involved with the neighbors, finding edible treats growing wild even in the city, growing your own food on windowsills, rooftops and fireplaces, composting and cooking your meals around what is in the kitchen rather than heading to the supermarket with a grocery list, et al. Ms. Meredith cautions, in the gentlest of ways, that we need to take better care of our planet—it’s the only one we’ve got—and changing our eating habits is one easy step towards a better world.
Even if you don’t agree with the philosophy of eating only what can be produced locally (What? No lemons?), this book has more than a few ideas of making the most of what your local greengrocer produces.
Within this book are stories about getting involved with the neighbors, finding edible treats growing wild even in the city, growing your own food on windowsills, rooftops and fireplaces, composting and cooking your meals around what is in the kitchen rather than heading to the supermarket with a grocery list, et al. Ms. Meredith cautions, in the gentlest of ways, that we need to take better care of our planet—it’s the only one we’ve got—and changing our eating habits is one easy step towards a better world.
Even if you don’t agree with the philosophy of eating only what can be produced locally (What? No lemons?), this book has more than a few ideas of making the most of what your local greengrocer produces.
July 4, 2011
An excellent collection of ideas for people interested in eating local foods, but discouraged by common challenges such as money, time and space. Subjects include gardening, simple food preservation, cooking with odds and ends, foraging, and food storage. I particularly liked the information on making stock from leftover vegetable scraps, which is something I've been doing for awhile -- not only do I get free stock, but it saves trips to the compost pile.
I like the author's straightforward tone, which is positive and enthusiastic yet realistic. A long list of useful resources is included for those who want to move beyond the basics offered here.
My one complaint about the book is that it's geared toward people in the author's own area, New York City. Specific stores are mention, the specific climate is discussed, and so on. That doesn't mean it's not generally useful, but I found it annoying that there was no indication of this anywhere on the cover or title page.
I like the author's straightforward tone, which is positive and enthusiastic yet realistic. A long list of useful resources is included for those who want to move beyond the basics offered here.
My one complaint about the book is that it's geared toward people in the author's own area, New York City. Specific stores are mention, the specific climate is discussed, and so on. That doesn't mean it's not generally useful, but I found it annoying that there was no indication of this anywhere on the cover or title page.
December 30, 2010
This was an excellent book to guide me into my future of a much more natural and local diet. I'm not as hard core as the author, but with baby steps I may someday get there. If you think it's too hard to try, you should read this book.
It's got some great recipes and practical advice for storing all the produce that's so plentiful in the summer, but nowhere to be found in the winter.
I can't wait for Spring to roll around so I can really delve into this more. And when the dandelions come around to plague my lawn, I'm going to harvest them and try two of these recipes; Dandelion Root Coffee and Crustless Dandelion Quiche.
It's got some great recipes and practical advice for storing all the produce that's so plentiful in the summer, but nowhere to be found in the winter.
I can't wait for Spring to roll around so I can really delve into this more. And when the dandelions come around to plague my lawn, I'm going to harvest them and try two of these recipes; Dandelion Root Coffee and Crustless Dandelion Quiche.
January 18, 2011
Someone new to living sustainably would probably rate this book with more stars than I did. I'm not trying to come across as eco-girl, but tips like "carry a cloth re-usable bag!" aren't really rocking my world these days.
To sum up: eat seasonal ingredients. Cook. Support your local Farmers Markets. Look for local CSA's. Avoid excess packaging. etc. etc.
To sum up: eat seasonal ingredients. Cook. Support your local Farmers Markets. Look for local CSA's. Avoid excess packaging. etc. etc.
October 29, 2010
good if you really don't know where to start or you live in the NYC area. a few tips i didn't know about food preservation were helpful but otherwise much of the same material as omnivore's dilemma. not bad by any means, despite an occurrence of "at it's best" (cringe!), but better if you live near where she does, which they don't specify in the title or subtitle.
February 29, 2012
This book is a good primer for someone considering the locavore lifestyle for the first time. If you have been doing a bit of research on your own already, you may not find anything new here. The author attempts to talk in generalities, but because she is a New Yorker there is a slight bias toward how CSAs and things work in her area.
May 12, 2010
good simple tips, short description of author’s 250 project, includes some simple recipes. Like the “If you do just one thing” tip at the end of each chapter.
A little frustrated that most of the tips are geared to people who live in the Northeast/New York State area.
A little frustrated that most of the tips are geared to people who live in the Northeast/New York State area.
July 4, 2011
Ms. Meredith's seasonal food use/storage and (especially) food preservation tips are a huge help in dealing with our CSA bounty! This is my recommendation of the summer, especially for fellow CSA members or folks lucky enough to be trying out their own gardens.
June 1, 2010
Awesome, practical handbook. Except that she seems to assume all her readers live in NYC (it makes me jealous all the resource they have at their fingertips.) I am inspired! Baby steps.
August 2, 2010
A fantastic help for locavores in the North Eastern U.S., don't bother buying it if your climate is unlike ours. Always worth renting from the library, though!
September 17, 2010
A very practical and easy read.
July 30, 2011
There were some useful information, but I thought the author's tone was a bit "holier than thou."
September 9, 2011
Tips on how to handle whole foods if you are busy, live in a small space, and want to save money. Oh, and I just love reading about people who do a local food challenge.
May 26, 2014
I was hoping for a little bit more personal and engaging book. Instead, it has a lot of great information, but not a lot of heart. Okay is a good summary.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews