50 food mile diary: Journey's end

The Gemmell family from the Borders took part in the 50:50 food challenge

An unusual food experiment has taken place in the Scottish Borders.

Fifty people aimed to survive a month eating only produce from within a 50-mile radius of their homes.

The event was organised by the voluntary group Tweedgreen which hoped to promote local food and cut energy waste.

One family taking part, the Gemmells from Peebles, kept a diary of their experiences for the BBC Scotland news website.

THE END OF A FOOD ODYSSEY - 3 NOVEMBER 2009

Halloween cuisine - a pumpkin came in handy during the challenge

As we approach the end of our 50-50 challenge the overall feeling is not one of achievement, as might have been expected, but rather of surprise at the ease with which we have adapted.

There have been no dramatic changes in the Gemmell household, we still go shopping, buy food, bring it home, cook it and eat it.

The difference is that we no longer fill our supermarket trolley with items which, by and large, have had all the goodness processed out of them.

Half of it we probably did not need and much of it stayed in the fridge until it went off and ended up in the bin.

Instead, we can now be found wandering down Peebles High Street, popping into local shops, going to the market for fresh fish or visiting the "egg fridge" at Bonnington Farm.

All of which, for some reason, appears less stressful - even with four kids in tow.

Our initial worries of cost, variety and sourcing local produce have diminished as the weeks have progressed.

Variety has never been an issue due, in part, to the range of local produce

We now regard more expensive items, like meat for the carnivores and cheese for the vegetarians, as treats and subsequently eat less of them substituting more vegetables in their place.

This is not only healthier, but also gives us a better appreciation of the value of food, where it comes from and the cost and effort used to produce it sustainably.

Variety has never been an issue due, in part, to the range of local produce.

Local pork with apples, onions, tomato and honey proved a hit

However, obtaining fresh fruit at this time of year remains problematic, but notwithstanding, once we learned where to source what we needed, less time is now spent shopping.

A certain degree of local knowledge also helps.

It was a good idea to track down the local bee keepers for honey and get to know local shop keepers as they are more than willing to offer alternative suppliers if they do not have what you want.

The most significant differences have been the thought required in planning what we eat and the additional time necessary preparing food.

Even this has become more manageable once new routines have been established, although dad still forgets to put the bread on.

"What's for dinner?" is also no longer met with such a sharp intake of breath.

We have become more adept at planning weekly menus without recourse to emergency pizza or fish fingers - if you know you cannot have it, you learn pretty quickly to have an alternative in place.

Originally, we hoped to demonstrate the 50-50 challenge was possible on a budget and we believe we have successfully achieved this

Additionally the amount of waste we produce has decreased considerably with less packaging being thrown away.

The contents of our recycle bag have halved and this would reduce still further if milk was supplied in returnable bottles as opposed to plastic cartons.

We have kept strictly to the 50-50 criteria in that not only did we only consume products from within the 50 mile radius, we also excluded products from within the radius using ingredients from outside it.

We were less strict with the kids, (not much though), and they did however survive fairly well, even Rachael didn't complain too often.

We did have the occasional slip-up, the remains of a packet of fudge disappeared, but that apart, once we had put our mind to it the challenge was straightforward enough.

So what next? Apart from looking forward to a curry, the consensus is to carry on as far as possible the way we were during the challenge, though we have not broken this news to the kids yet.

Sunshine on leeks - homegrown vegetables proved a real bonus

We intend to continue to buy fish landed at Eyemouth, meat from the local butcher, vegetables from local suppliers and we will continue to make all our own bread.

The bulk of the food we buy will continue to be produced locally.

We will add items such as fruit, from further afield, sugar in baking if not in coffee and the odd dollop of French cheese. The display of cakes and pastries in Forsythes is also looking very tempting.

Originally, we hoped to demonstrate the 50-50 challenge was possible on a budget and we believe we have successfully achieved this.

Costs were kept to a minimum by buying close to source, cutting back on items that are more expensive and by having our own homegrown vegetables to rely on.

Overall, we have all enjoyed taking part and we now give more thought to where our food comes from and have learned to appreciate the value of food to a far greater extent than we did before.

The 50-50 was certainly a challenge, but it was by no means an ordeal.