When Andrew and Katie McNeely want a salad, they cross the road and pick one. When Rob and Natalie McNair-Huff eat lamb, they know where the animal lived, how well-cared-for it was, and possibly even its name.

They’re two Tacoma couples who have joined the ranks of a growing movement: eating locally. They grow their own food, cook from scratch, buy from local farmers and eat what’s in season in the Northwest. And they’re not alone.

This month, Mayor Bill Baarsma and the Tacoma Public Library have added their voices to the “eat local” movement by asking Tacomans to read “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle,” Barbara Kingsolver’s memoir about her own local diet. They’re hoping the book will spur all of us on to a greater awareness of just what we’re putting in our mouths.

“We picked this book because of its importance to our community,” says library public relations manager David Domkoski. “We buy things and don’t really know what we’re buying or eating. Food is getting expensive. We don’t take time to eat as families.”

The Tacoma Reads program is an annual event, begun in 2001 as a way of uniting the community after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. A book is selected by a library committee and the mayor, and promoted to Tacoma residents. Events, discussions, films and workshops on the subject extend through May.

In this year’s book, “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle,” the writer recounts a year of living as much as possible on food grown on or near her Virginia home. It’s both a practical book (canning advice, recipes, gardening information) and an environmental plea, with sidebars on the damage wreaked by long-distance food trucking, fertilizer run-off, crowded animal farms and so on.

THE CHALLENGE

At the heart of Kingsolver’s book – and the Tacoma Reads program – is a challenge. Can we, as South Puget Sounders, eat more locally?

The answer, according to many, is yes. The McNair-Huffs and the McNeelys, who will speak at the program Thursday, have been eating locally for about a year. Both couples live busy lives: Rob and Natalie McNair-Huff, in their early 40s, have full-time office jobs, while Katie and Andrew McNeely, in their 20s, hold down part-time jobs and full-time university studies. Yet each couple shops at markets, grows a garden and prepares their own meals.

“For us, it’s been coming a long time,” says Natalie McNair-Huff. “We want to keep our carbon footprint small. Our goal was to have everything we eat come from within Washington.”

Even that goal took quite a lot of research, McNair-Huff says. She began with buying a Community Supported Agriculture produce share from Puyallup farm Zestful Gardens, and a meat share from Cheryl Oullette, known in the region as “The Pig Lady.”

CSA shares guarantee a certain amount of farm produce every week of the year for a certain price, which in turn helps the farmer with regular income.

McNair-Huff found an organic grain farm in the Methow Valley, Bluebird Grain Farms, and bought home-delivered local milk from Smith Brothers. Eggs came from the Wilcox Family Farm, cheese from farmers markets. After developing a relationship with local farmers, she discovered the Yakima Valley Alvarez Farm, which sells legumes and nuts.

MAKING SOME SACRIFICES

But there were difficulties. Oats are usually grown in Washington only as animal fodder, so the McNair-Huffs reluctantly gave them up. Smith Brothers didn’t use local milk for other dairy products. Rice doesn’t grow in Washington, so the couple began using Bluebird’s emmer instead, an ancient wheat that takes longer to cook. Learning how to use seasonal produce took creativity. Some things they just had to do without: dried pasta, bananas, citrus fruits. And, like Kingsolver, they made some exceptions: coffee, tea, spices, oil, plus occasionally eating out.

Eating locally can also take more time than buying a supermarket meal.

“It’s time-consuming,” says Rob. “Natalie spends hours cooking.” In the fall, the couple would come home from work and spend five hours canning, drying and freezing produce bought in bulk at the markets. They also have around 150 square feet of garden space at their North End home, which they use for herbs, garlic and favorite vegetables.

Andrew and Katie McNeely also spend a lot of time preparing food, though they live in a Hilltop apartment. Right across the road is a community garden, which they manage. They also grow their own food there.

They raise starts in a greenhouse they’ve built on a neighbor’s driveway, and spend time in fall gleaning windfall fruit from neighborhood trees, with the owners’ permission. Andrew also works part-time at two local farms. They figure around 70 percent of their diet is within Washington or Oregon.

COSTS AND BENEFITS

Does eating locally cost more?

Only a little, say the McNair-Huffs. Some things, like buying in bulk and baking bread at home, save a lot of money. Other things, like buying local cheese, costs more.

Going 100 percent local “is a luxury,” says Natalie. “It takes more time, and certain things take more money.” The couple estimates a monthly grocery bill of around $530 in “good” months.

“It pays off over the long-term,” says Katie McNeely. “Some times of the year are busier, some are slower; some are more expensive, some are cheaper.” The McNeelys estimate they spend around $250 per month, down $200 from their previous nonlocal grocery bill.

So why make the effort to eat local?

“We like having an abundance of food to share,” says Katie McNeely. “We meet a lot of neighbors, make friends, get to know our farmers. We know we can feed our family, when we have one. It’s been wonderful.”

“We know exactly where our food comes from, how our animals live,” says Natalie McNair-Huff. “It gives you a new appreciation for food and the effort that goes into it, and an awareness of waste. It keeps the food miles down. And just the taste of a ripe tomato, from your own garden – it tastes so different. Plus, we’re conservationists, we value open space, keeping farms.”

Sarah Garritone, a Pierce Conservation District advocate who’ll speak at the library’s discussion on local farming, points to four main reasons why it’s important to eat locally: the economy, the environment, the community, and health.

Buying local recycles money back into the local economy, she says, while cutting down on transportation fuels and encouraging local organic farms. It supports food security, while creating a community that’s in touch with its food sources. And local, seasonal food is nutritionally superior.

But the bottom line, say local eaters, is that this isn’t an extreme sport. Anyone can do it, to any degree.

“Just start with one thing,” says Andrew McNeely. “Grow a salad, or buy extra rhubarb and freeze it. Then add one more thing.”

“I’m a gardening newbie; if I can do it, anyone can,” says Alicia Lawver, co-founder of the Grow Local Tacoma partnership, which is organizing a Tacoma Reads gardening workshop. “I have three kids, I’m realistic. It’s not all or nothing. It’s about making conscious choices, and every choice adds up.”

Rosemary Ponnekanti: 253-597-8568

WHERE TO GO FOR LOCAL FOOD

Fruit and Vegetables

 • www.growlocaltacoma.com is a good starting point for resources.

 • Buy a Community Supported Agriculture share from a local farm such as Zestful Gardens or Terry’s Berries in Puyallup; some do Tacoma drop-offs. Go to www.pugetsoundfresh.org or local markets for a list.

 • Buy a home-delivered Northwest produce box from Tacoma-owned Terra Organics; 253-627-1581, www.producehomedelivery.com.

 • Buy from local farmers markets. The downtown Tacoma Broadway Market runs Thursdays from May 21-Oct. 15; the Proctor Market at North 27th and Proctor streets runs now on Saturdays through Nov. 2; the Sixth Avenue Market at Pine Street and Sixth Avenue runs Tuesdays 3:30-5:30 p.m. from June 2-Sept. 29. The Puyallup Market at Pioneer Park runs Saturdays, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., May-October and Sundays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., May-August.

MEAT

 • Cheryl Oullette, aka “The Pig Lady” at Summit, sells pig, chicken and rabbit meat at farmers markets and in bulk; 253-278-3609.

 • Carrie Coineandubh, a meat and egg producer, also in Summit; 206-683-2124.

SEAFOOD

 • Johnny’s Dock and Northstar Seafoods often have local catch if you ask for it.

 • Other outlets: www.wilsonfish.com and Metropolitan Market.

DAIRY/EGGS

 • Smith Brothers delivers locally produced milk and buttermilk (and other nonlocal products) to your home; 253-924-0250, www.smithbrothersfarms.com.

 • Organic Valley includes a lot of local farms. Look for the label codes 41-35, 41-34, 41-017 and 53-21 on milk; and 41-25 on butter.

 • Marlene’s, Thriftway and Top Foods all carry Washington milk.

 • Wilcox Farms produces eggs in Roy, available at Costco, Wal-Mart, Metropolitan Market and Albertsons Warehouse; 1-800-568-6456, www.wilcoxfarms.com.

GRAINS

 • Bluebird Grain Farms in the Methow Valley produces wheat, rye and emmer grain and flours; CSA shares or products available; 509-996-3526, www.bluebirdgrainfarms.com.

BEANS/NUTS

 • The Alvarez Farm in the upper Yakima Valley produces legumes and nuts as well as hot-weather vegetables. They distribute at farmers markets.

COMMUNITY TALKS AND FILMS

As the organizer of the Tacoma Reads program, the Tacoma Public Library is holding events related to this year’s book, Barbara Kingsolver’s “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.” Here are a few of them. For complete details, see www.tpl.lib.wa.us.

7 p.m. Thursday: Eating Local, a Community Conversation. Olympia Room, Main Branch; 1102 South Tacoma Ave., Tacoma.

1 p.m. Saturday: Vegetable Gardening 101. Jefferson Fieldhouse, North Ninth and North Monroe streets, Tacoma; $12.

Saturday-May 30: Container Gardening. Various dates and locations.

7 p.m. April 23: The Farm, a Community Conversation. Olympia Room, Main Branch.

7 p.m. April 30: “Supersize Me,” a film about overeating junk food. Olympia Room, Main Branch.

1 p.m. May 2; 3 p.m. May 9: Gardening with Kids. South Tacoma branch and Wheelock branch.

2:30 p.m. May 2: “King Corn,” a film about corporate farming. The Grand Cinema, 606 South Fawcett Ave., Tacoma.

6:45 p.m. May 5: “Babette’s Feast,” a film about cooking and tradition; The Grand Cinema.

7 p.m. May 7: Book discussion on “Plenty: Eating Locally on the 100-Mile Diet.” King’s Books, 218 St. Helen’s Ave., Tacoma.

7 p.m. May 7: Raising Healthy Eaters. Olympia Room, Main Branch.

10 a.m. May 16: A Backyard Vegetable Garden Primer. Olympia Room, Main Branch.