Platter Chatter

Conversations about Food.

Today we are featuring Wendimere Reilly of The Health Chic:

What’s your definition of local?

Local means goods and services produced and sold by folks in my community. Here in Florida we tend to extend the definition of community to include our entire state.

What’s your definition of sustainable?

Sustainability is all about reduction. Reduce, reduce, reduce then reuse and if all else fails then recycle. Renewable, and biodegradable have their merits but learning to consume less is the real answer.

When you think of local, sustainable, and community, how would you rank the three (from most important to least) and why?

If we feel connected to our community then we would probably naturally want to support our local friends, neighbors, farmers and small businesses. I think one of the root causes of our endless desire to consume is to fill a void or emptiness that comes from a lack of connectivity. Give a group of kids a ball and they can entertain themselves for days. Put a kid in a room by himself in a room full of toys and he’s eventually going to become bored, lonely and frustrated.

What’s one thing people can do to be more local and sustainable?

Pick one thing and do it. Shop at a small business, go to the farmers market, eat at a family owned restaurant. Encourage the businesses that you patronize to buy local and “green” up their own operations. Vote with your dollar, consider the consequences of your spending. Buy less.

Wendimere Reilly is a good friend of Sustainable Table, has The Health Chic house (in Florida) and website, drives The Health Chic mobile , works with kids and wrote the wonderful book- The Health Chic Guide: Hip, Fun & Delicious Living. Find out all about her on The Health Chic website!