GUILFORD TWP.— How many thousands of miles were on that banana you ate with breakfast today? What was the ZIP code on the pot roast you made for dinner last night?

Cory Boruvka can tell you the origin of every item he’s put on his plate during the month of August. He’s just completed a self-imposed 30-day challenge to eat only food produced in Ohio— and most has come from a lot closer than the state line.

Lisa and Cory Boruvka pose near their 700-square-foot raised-bed garden in Guilford Township, which has been a major contributor to Cory’s monthlong eat-local challenge. (GAZETTE PHOTO BY JOHN GLADDEN)

He got eggs from Rohrer Farm and produce from Acme Farm Market, both just around the corner. He bought Gerber chicken and Hartzler’s milk from Buehler’s, oatmeal and pancake mix from Local Roots in Wooster. For fresh peaches and tomatoes, he only needs to go as far as his own backyard.

No lemonade from tropical ­grown lemons, no restaurants, no processed foods, no frozen dinners. But as it turns out, Boruvka, 32, has been eating pretty darn well.

His menu last month included: fruit and vegetable smoothies, omelets, salsa, homemade pizza, lamb stew, hamburgers, walleye, chicken stir-fry, sweet corn and water­melon, oatmeal cookies, acorn squash with honey and fresh butter, pancakes and maple syrup, noodles and dumplings.

Boruvka said he’s always had a pretty healthy lifestyle, but was a “plain” eater. He liked spaghetti, but didn’t care for the sauces. He liked salad, but not the dress­ings. So, he and his wife Lisa decided to make their own.

“I told Lisa I’d give it a try if it was all homegrown stuff,” he said.

They began making and freez­ing their own sauces for pizza, stews and pasta. It was a hit.

“I said, ‘This is totally working. I’ve got to do more,’ ” he recalled.

That led to planting a small orchard and building a 700­square-foot, raised-bed garden in their backyard, where they grow green beans, okra, toma­toes, strawberries, a Japanese soybean called edamame, and more.

Boruvka enjoyed fresh foods so much on a recent trip to Florida, he wanted to see what would happen if he tried to eat only local foods for a whole month. August, when produce is at its peak in the Buckeye State, seemed like the perfect time. That’s how the Ohio Bites challenge was born.

Call it an exercise in self-dis­cipline and self-awareness.

Like Henry David Thoreau’s sojourn at Walden Pond, it’s an experiment in living deliber­ately. Opening a can of soup takes five minutes. Cooking vegetable soup from scratch can take a couple of hours.

It’s been a challenge, but a positive one. He wasn’t sure if he could go a month without some of his favorite sweets.

But now he knows he can.

“The cravings aren’t as bad as I thought they would be,” said Boruvka, who works in marketing for Charles Schwab and teaches business and marketing part time at Indiana Wesleyan University.

The most difficult challenge has been the social aspect of food. You can’t eat out with friends when you’re eating local, he said. You have to bring your own food to family gatherings— from funeral dinners to vacations. And when everyone else in the office is chowing down on doughnuts, the ingredients of which come from goodness knows where, you pass them by. When you explain, some people understand, some don’t.

However, the experience has been overwhelmingly good.

Boruvka said he feels healthier and has more energy. The challenge has made him more conscious of reading ingredi­ents on food labels. A good rule to live by is: If you can’t grow it, raise it, or pronounce it, don’t eat it. He’s gotten a lot of support from friends and family.

Economically, eating all Ohio foods seems to balance out. Some items may cost more, but Boruvka said they’ve saved a lot by not eat­ing out and by avoiding expensive prepackaged foods.

Eating locally and seasonally supports the local economy and results in fresher, better­ tasting foods, since the pro­duce hasn’t been shipped long-distance.

“Things are so vibrant with flavor,” he said.

They’ve also become aware of how many local producers really are within reach, includ­ing dairies and meat proces­sors.

Lisa has been eating all ­local snacks and two Ohio­ produced meals per day, while their three kids have just been enjoying lots of extra fresh fruits and vegetables along with their normal diets. That sort of healthy mix is what Boruvka’s menu likely will return to this month.

His advice to others who are interested in localizing their food: Start by changing just one or two things in your diet.

Find a local source of eggs.

Visit a community farm mar­ket. Eat what’s in season. And see where it goes from there.

You can follow Boruvka’s blog— and read his menu for every day of his eat-local chal­lenge— at www.ohiobites.com.

Contact John Gladden at gladden@verizon.net.

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