Real People Eat Local

Local food is increasingly available in all sorts of locations. Mainstream grocery stores now often label food “local,” as do food co-ops and health food stores. Local food is also available at farmers markets, although buyers shouldn’t assume all food at a farmers’ market is local food. Vendors aren’t necessarily producers. If you’re in doubt about the origin of the food at the market, just ask the seller where it was grown. Local food can also be purchased on-farm, via internet orders, and through “Community Supported Agriculture” (CSA) programs, which allow people to purchase a “share” of the farm’s crops at the beginning of the year and receive a box of produce weekly during the growing season. To figure out where you want to shop, check out our Local Mix newsletter, which highlights local food options in our region. Otherwise, lots of local farm directories are available on the internet. For starters, try www.eatwild.com, www.localharvest.org or www.newfarm.org. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, keep asking around. Some farms just don’t seem to be listed where you’d expect.