by Sherwin Lee

Summer is always a great time to shop for local and fresh foods, especially when a lot is in season.  But what about those pesky winter months?  Many farmers markets close during that time of year, and while it should be a season of merry and festive dining, local foodists are often left scratching their heads wondering what to eat.

There's little reason to fear, however.  Laura McCrae, who runs the Urban Hennery blog, is challenging people to cook up one "SOLE (sustainable, organic, local, ethical)" meal per week up through the end of March during the 'Dark Days,' AKA the winter months.  The 3rd Annual Dark Days Challenge is part of a broader effort to help people eat local even when the colder season rolls around.

While the fun is in the challenge, McCrae has learned to use a number of food storage techniques to get through the winter.  Along with canning vegetables, she stores pounds of locally-raised meat products in her freezer as well as potatoes and peppers in a cool storage bin outside in the barn.  Rachel Forrest, a writer, uses similar tactics and believes that a large part to eating local during the winter months is learning to buy food from day to day instead of weekly.  

So just because the days get darker, we can still enjoy local food, particularly during the holidays when our stomachs really want it.

Sherwin Lee is an architecture and urban planning student at the University of Washington.  He is interested in community & neighborhood development and strongly supports using markets in urban spaces.