Eat Local Challenge

Participants: A whole heap of people, lots of them listed somewhere on the project's website.

Hypothesis: That it is possible to change your eating habits so that you get the majority (or even all) of your food from locally sources of production.

Summary: For reasons listed here, a group of bloggers decided to try switching to eating locally produced food where ever possible. There are lots of encouraging posts on the group blog, but the really interesting posts come from the individual bloggers who have taken part in one of the Eat Local Challenges. The group runs a challenge a couple of times a year, and people who take part promise to try to eat locally for the month of the challenge.

Lucette took part in May 2006 and documented her experience on her blog. So did Vi, with posts about it here, here and here. Other bloggers who took part last year are listed here. Most of them seemed to find it a positive and worthwhile experience, if only because you get a chance to learn about what grows (and what doesn't!) in your local area.

For anyone who's interested, this year's Eat Local Challenge will be in September.

No one cares what you had for lunch

Spending $1 or less on food every day for a month

Participant: Evan

Hypothesis: That you can survive in America on a food budget of $30 per month.

Summary: You can do it. It's just not any fun. Q&A here.

In total, Evan spent $27.28 on food in November. He calculated it saved him $212.22, which is what he donated to a food bank at the end of the experiment. He also lost 18 pounds. And ate a lot of rice.

Sweet enough already

Sugarfree for 30 days (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Participant: StyleyGeek

Hypothesis: That cutting refined sugar out of her diet for 30 days would rid her of her psychological and physical addiction to desserts.

Summary: To hear her write about it, you would think she had discovered the key to eternal life. After a week or so of cravings, relapses, mental fog and tiredness, StyleyGeek adjusted to her sugar-freedom and has experienced the following benefits:

1. loss of junk food cravings
2. wanting to eat only when hungry
3. food tastes better
4. stable energy levels
5. unexpected weight loss