Eating Locally: Not Just for Humans

The New York Times recently posted an article to their website about preparing local, homemade food for the furry members of the family. Eating a locally produced meal is just as important for health and wellbeing of our cats and dogs as is it for us. Also, you can support locally owned organic farms by choosing meat and produce from the farmers market instead of pet oriented chain stores. More people are turning away from the processed foods and choosing to prepare whole meals for the pets. Animals have specific diets that need to be addressed, but food can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the fridge. For example, a meal for a dog might consist of "brown rice, cooked ground beef or chicken, peas, green beans, yams, dry milk and Tums tablets for calcium." This batch of food would last  about three weeks, and would cost between $10 and $12.

Preparing a gourmet meal like this is much more involved than opening a can and plopping it contents into a bowl, but it can be another healthy ritual consistent with any local foods lifestyle.