There are many food-related things one can count while counting the omer– food miles, money spent on food each day/week….what else can folks think of?

Next week, Eat Local Challenge and the Locavores are sponsoring a Penny-Wise Eat Local Challenge, from April 23 to 29. Many people are under the impression that eating local (like organic), requires a large food budget. The point of the Penny-Wise challenge is to eat local, as defined by a 100-mile radius, on what some consider a small budget.

The Penny-Wise challenge uses numbers from the Department of Labor’s Consumer Expenditures, which allots $68/week for a one-person household or $144/week for a household of 2+ with 2 wage earners.

Having just attended a seminar on the USDA Thrifty Food Plan last week, which is the basis of the monthly food stamp allotment, I think these numbers are a bit high for an attempt at being “penny-wise.” In a similar experiment, Half Changed World tried a month of sticking to the TFP, which is for a family of 4, and succeeded. US Food Policy’s family (including his two cute children who I’ve met) tried it and came close, but fell short in the area of restaurant food. This is a key difference, because food stamps may never be used for restaurant or other prepared food. In his highly captivating blog, Hungry for a Month halved the Penny-Wise rate and chronicled a month of food for $30.

Nevertheless, it is a great idea….maybe we could sponsor our own jcarrot Penny-Wise Tzedek Hechsher Challenge some time, highlighting current constructions of ethical Kashrut within a budget. Althought I’ll be out of town next week and can’t participate, I’m thinking about the timeliness of the upcoming September’s month-long Eat Local Challenge.

Click for full rules for the Penny-Wise Local Challenge.