The Eat Local Challenge

Mission
The Salt Lake Eat Local Challenge seeks to create a more robust local food network by increasing awareness of our foodshed, providing information and resources for eating locally, and building a community hungry for local food–making Utah a more nourishing place.

How does it really work?
The “standard” Challenge is described as consuming only foods that come from within a 250 mile radius of home for a whole month.

Some folks will challenge themselves for a week—which is fine. Some will make allowances for impossible-to-find or difficult-to-replace items such as coffee, olive oil, or oats. Whatever makes this experience a fun, educational challenge is valid.

For more information about future events, visit Slow Food Utah and check out and add to the Eat Local Challenge’s Facebook page.

The project was begun several years ago by Andrea Heidinger and then Tara Poelzing took over the coordination of it with help from Salt Lake City Food Policy Task Force. In 2012, it transitioned to Slow Food Utah.

How will you challenge yourself? You can make a pledge to try to eat just local produce or local dairy. And you can try to do it for a week or take the plunge for the whole month.

Tell us how you plan to challenge yourself.

See a list of farmers markets that accept food stamps.

Find Local Food