Local eating: a quest for knowledge

I have had it in my brain since the beginning of the '100 mile diet' movement, that that would be a great idea to work towards. After all, less travel should technically = less cost, and i'd be more likely to deal with the farmer/maker in person, therefor passing the buck directly to them.

This is still just an idea at this point, however, for a few reasons:
1. low income household means buying hugely bulk (like a 1/4 cow) is very difficult, and handmade local items are often more expensive than more distant varieties
2. 2 small very noisy and active kids make it a huge production just to get out of the house, so searching out farmers markets and out of the way shops is nigh-on-impossible (just getting out to the bank and a grocery store uses up most of my patience!)
3. renting a house, and one without a garden makes growing my own hard/impossible (though my window garden is doing as nicely as can be expected)

Last year, i made some headway on the 'make it yourself' vein by teaching myself how to do boiling water canning. i also took the opportunity to use that new skill to make Yuletide gifts for everyone! it was very... cost effective, and _hopefully_ appreciated.

rainbow peppers. Mmm mm spicy!

This year i'm doing more indoor growing, and have made initial attempts at breadmaking ( i have found a no-knead recipe that's edible... a bit heavy though....)

my goal (within the next year, maximum two) is to reduce my Imported purchases (imported being from out of country) by 50% for food goods, and 5% for all other items. To do this, i need to start re-assessing my family's diet, and research a 'complete' list of foods that can be made locally, then work towards sourcing these more local foods.

Do you eat locally?
Do you grow your own?
What about clothing/paper goods/ etc? can you buy local products?