Over the years, I have shared many lovely Thanksgiving meals with a variety of family and friends. It is the holiday most dear to me, because at its heart it is a time when people come together to give thanks for the simple, yet profound, result of a successful harvest. It is the holiday which can remind us most of our ties to the land, and to each other. As a dietitian, one of the unfortunate things that I am also reminded of as each holiday season approaches is the dreaded holiday weight gain. It is, in fact, a real phenomenon. And it’s no wonder why Americans gain about a pound a year over the holidays when you consider that, according to the American Diabetes Association; we eat over 4,000 calories at a typical Thanksgiving meal! This kind of overdoing it can be disastrous for the body, the wallet, and the environment.

So how do we celebrate with gusto without putting on inches year after year? How do we instill healthy habits in those children around our tables with their wide open eyes and ears?  My personal answer lies in celebrating the harvest with an abundant cornucopia of local (I live in southeastern Wisconsin), seasonal vegetables—winter squash, turnips, parsnips, potatoes, kohlrabi, rutabaga, celeriac, beets, kale, brussels sprouts, mushrooms, onions, carrots. Roasted, baked, steamed, broiled…these vibrant vegetables are healthy, delicious, and good for the community and land in which we live. Paired with other local foods like wild or heritage turkeys, hickory nuts, hazelnuts, apples, quinces, cranberries, maple syrup, honey, wild rice, oats, regional flours, cheeses, charcuterie, eggs, milk, butter, cider, beers, and even wine—one can have a completely local Thanksgiving meal.

While people were, as a matter of course, locavores for thousands of years, sourcing and paying for local, sustainable foods these days can be complex—especially if you don’t already have garden or belong to a local produce, milk or meat buying club. But even if you’ve not been planning a local food Thanksgiving meal for weeks or months, if you’re so inspired, you can start right now with great success. You can source a completely local meal with a trip to the Milwaukee County Winter Farmer’s Market and then to an Outpost Co-op location. Both the Outpost and the Winter Farmer’s Market accept Quest cards. And while It might be too late to order a local, heritage turkey (like Red Bourbon or Naragansett) for this year, you can check out Slow Food WiSE’s list of local farmer’s raising heritage breeds for next year and to learn more about why heritage breeds are so special.

While the foods at my varying tables have changed over the years, depending on the faces and the places, like most people, I have developed some dishes I adore that celebrate our regional cuisine.

• Roasted Fall Vegetables
• Spinach, Beet, Pumpkin Seeds and Blue Cheese Salad
• Caramelized Brussels Spouts
• Winter Squash with Wild Rice Stuffing

I invite you to try these dishes and share your comments and recommendations.