Lessons learned from participating in my first Buy Local Challenge:

- Vanilla yogurt (with local fruit) is the single greatest breakfast ever.

- It's possible to actually look forward to eating salad.

- Spinach doesn't keep overnight in a tupperware container.

- $20 can buy a whole lotta food.

- I need a bigger garbage can.

- You can buy not just fruits and vegetables, but also dairy, meat, and even toiletries, at farmer's markets.

- Farmer's markets are also a great place to hang out if you like people-watching or adore cute babies/children/animals.

- Size really doesn't matter after all, and local trumps organic when it comes to taste. (Case in point: those huge "organic raspberries" I bought from Whole Foods. They looked huge and appetizing, but have half the taste of the farmer's market raspberries I've been eating.)

- It's what you eat, not how much you eat, that determines:
- how hungry you are;
- how much weight you lose (6 pounds, thanks very much!);
- how much energy you have; and
- how good you feel about yourself.

~Jen