By Sarah Koller

I’ve been out of my regular routine for over a week now. My sister got married last Saturday in a place 1,000 miles away from my home, but I, my husband, and my little boy made the trip just a week before the wedding. With the help of a friend, I prepared for the trip by preparing local and organic food ahead of time.

The food didn’t last the entire week-and-a-half I’ve been gone, and I didn’t replenish it prior to the return home. I did have the opportunity to buy local produce from an inspiring store ( I hope to share the story with you in the near future!), and eat at locally-minded restaurants.

The post-vacation bloat remains. Those styrofoam smoothie containers aren’t going to break down, and I continue to learn about poor business practices on the part of suppliers that didn’t even occur to me before. Whole groups of people are being taken advantage of for the sake of the production of less-than-quality food, and it really, really bothers me.

I know I am telling companies,”I support what you’re doing” when I buy their products. There’s so much information out there that I am sure it is happening way more often than I realize.

I feel overwhelmed, a feeling I try to avoid because for me, at least, it has a paralyzing effect. A I have so much to do that I’m just going to do nothing mindset.

There’s any easy way to find feeling overwhelmed: simplify.

That is my week-long challenge (to myself) beginning Wednesday, August 1st: simplify.

The Simple Challenge

1. Only purchase items in packaging when it is absolutely required (ie. meat).

a) I’ll be making use of reusable  and returnable containers and bulk bins for this one.

b)  This means no store-bought chips (a particular love of mine)!

2. Purchase everything from a local farmer. If I can’t do that, I won’t be buying it.

3. Using what I already have on hand is allowed.

4. I’ll be eating out only if I am invited to an occasion (like a birthday celebration) that can’t be replicated at another time or place. If that happens, I’ll be making the best decision I know how to make.

Any questions? Want to join me? Wanna see what I choose to eat on the challenge? Leave a comment!