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Posted by Christine Metz August 5, 2008 at 8:06 a.m.

Eating within range

The thing about a diet (and I should know because I have been on more than a few) is when you first start one, you never think about all the food you can have. Instead, my mind is driven - obsessively so - to what is forbidden. I mean Monday wasn't so bad. For breakfast, I had whole-wheat toast with a layer of honey and butter. For lunch it was a sandwich of fresh tomatoes, basil and cucumbers topped off with side of cantaloupe. Alma cheese curds were my mid-afternoon snack. And, in the evening I dined on stuffed eggplant. Trust me, I've kicked-off diets eating much worse. And, yet all I really want - to the point of almost going mad - is a nice non-fat grande latte with one sugar. Please. At this point (with what appears to be a major headache coming on) I would even go for a plain old cup of Folgers, with or without the cream. But really, I shouldn't be complaining. I really couldn't pick a better month to start eating locally than August or a better land for a virtual cornucopia of fruits, vegetables and grains than Kansas. And I have a refrigerator full of local meats and dairy products. In fact, in the weeks leading up to Monday's nosedive into local food consumption, I had gathered more than enough food for three of me. So, why at 9 p.m. with a full and happy stomach, do I still want coffee?Welcome to phase two of the eco-challenge: the 100-mile diet. Last week I tried to see what life was like without a car. By the end, I had gotten drenched on my way to work, acquired a desk draw full of high-heeled shoes and managed to make it to Kansas City and back on a Friday night. In an attempt at full-disclosure, I must reveal that on Sunday - the very last day of the challenge - I slipped into my car, turned on the engine and roared off to Kansas City for a beach volleyball game. Sorry, there was no way around it and my teammates were depending on me. But that was all sooooo last week. Today is all about the 100-mile diet. And, this time around I am going to try it for a month because - in the words of my editor: "Anyone can do almost anything for a week. A month, now that is a challenge."For those who haven't read one of the hundreds of books or Web sites dedicated to the eat local movement, the 100-mile diet restricts you to food that is grown within a 100-mile radius of your home.It's the kind of diet that hasn't caught on in Hollywood, but is a huge hit in San Francisco. And the focus isn't to lose weight. In fact, it goes beyond just eating healthy. It's about living healthier, building healthier communities and leaving a healthier planet behind.At it's root is reconnecting the food on the plate to that in the soil - a bond that has grown thin over the past half century.While I don't expect to lose weight, I fully intend to bake bread, concoct some kind of yogurt in my kitchen and boil down chicken bone to make soup. It will require dusting off some old family recipes, mooching off the proceeds of others' vegetable gardens and searching North Lawrence for "that guy who sells popcorn out of his garage." In the end, I hope to uncover under appreciated food that has been grown practically in my backyard for years and to let go of those far away foods that have turned into staples. Coffee included.