The 100-Mile Diet

This article is about the book The 100-Mile Diet. For the social movement that advocates eating locally grown food (locavore), see Local food. For the diet that attempts to minimize ecological footprints, see Low carbon diet.
The 100 Mile Diet:
A Year of Local Eating
Cover is a photo of a bicycle parked on a strip of grass between two ploughed fields.
First edition cover of Canadian release
AuthorAlisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon
SubjectDiet (nutrition)
GenreNon-fiction, memoir
PublishedMarch 2007 (Random House)
Publication placeCanada
Media typePrint (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages272 pp.
ISBN0-679-31482-2
OCLC74028846

The 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating (or Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally) is a non-fiction book written by Canadian writers Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon. In the book, the authors recount their experiences, including motivations and challenges, on restricting their diet, for one year, to include only foods grown within 100 miles of their residence. Beginning in March 2005, with little preparation the urban couple began only purchasing foods with ingredients they knew were all from within 100 miles. Finding little in grocery stores, they relied on farmers' markets and visits to local farms. Staples in their diet included seafood, chicken, root vegetable, berries, and corn. They lacked cooking oils, rice, and sugar. They preserved foods for use in the winter but ended with extra supplies.

The couple first wrote about the experience in articles for the online magazine The Tyee. The popularity of the articles led to a book deal. In the book, Smith and MacKinnon each write alternate chapters, 12 in total. The first chapter is written by MacKinnon and focuses on the first month of their experience. They write in the first person as a memoir that explores their own dietary experiences and personal feelings.

In the Canadian market, the book spent five weeks on Maclean's nonfiction bestseller list. The book spent 20 weeks on The Vancouver Sun's nonfiction bestseller list. The authors won the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize from the British Columbia Booksellers Association for the best contribution to the enjoyment and understanding of British Columbia. The 100-mile diet concept, along with advocates of local food, were covered by media across North America. In 2009, Food Network Canada aired The 100 Mile Challenge, a television series co-created by MacKinnon and Smith and based on the book.