<p>“The only gaps I can think of are for the carbs - we don’t have wheat, potatoes or rice in the area. I’ll have to read the rules and see what we can do.”</p>
<p>scualum, I think you’re being a little hard on yourself. For what it’s worth, I’ve found some groups and businesses that are committed to sourcing locally have a fairly generous version of local. For instance, at a food issues in the Jewish community conference that we attended in the Monterey area last December, the rye and durum wheat came from a farm at the northernmost end of California, 430 miles away. Potatoes, incidentally, came from Route 1 Farm in Santa Cruz, the UCSC Farm and Garden (both 50 miles away), and the Blue House Farm in Pescadero. But those were donated; I’d think that you’d be able to find even more local growers. </p>
<p>Another example is the caterer we’re using for an upcoming lifecycle event. The caterer emphasizes using seasonal, local, organic, sustainable food, and using best practices to reduce carbon footprint (plus, and most important, her food is astounding). Even so, local is defined as being within 400 miles. </p>
<p>I figure it’s like what Captain Barbossa says in “Pirates of the Caribbean” about how “the code is more what you’d call “guidelines” than actual rules.”</p>