Finding Local Food?

[me&thegals]

Google, word of mouth, and talking to current market people, even if they're crappy. It wouldn't hear for market vendors to hear what people are hungry for.

CSA is another great idea. I am always trying to connect my CSA customers with other locally grown items that I don't produce.

See if you have any local organizations that promote locally grown food. You might have to look to find them, but once you do they will open up a whole new food world for you. Local food is not mainstream yet, so you have to look (and you are! good for you!) to find it.

 

[homestead jenna]

Try your local office of Economic Development.

Someone mentioned the Extension office - could be, could be not. The one I work in is uber-focused on large-scale producers so if someone called in here with that request 1) we wouldn't give out information so as to be endorsing any one operation, and 2) they wouldn't necessarily be plugged into the small operations that would more likely depend and be geared for the local market. Just a thought...each state extension system office is different.

 

[OkieJonesClan]

I just joined two local co-ops with everything from soaps, make-up to meats, cheeses, honey, eggs and everything else in between. I also joined a produce co-op that a friend started. She has started a few local food co-ops and she does it by getting intouch with local farmers. I think that several people have mentioned the local agricultural extensions office. I will check in with my friend to see if she has some advice on starting food co-ops.

 

[Henrietta23]

I am able to find local things at our food co-op too. Even the big farm stand we go to in the warm months doesn't grow most of what they sell! That was an eye-opener for me.

 

[herbsherbsflowers]

I second the Local Harvest website. You just click on the map to zoom into your area and it gives you a list of farms, markets, CSA's and even restaurants that serve local food. It works very well.

 

[me&thegals]

herbsherbs flowers!

 

[herbsherbsflowers]

Thanks,

I've been lurking for a while and I am really into using local goods as much as possible. I'm also on the chicken and gardening forums.

 

[nightshade]

In summer local produce is easy to find here I think, we have a Co Op a few miles away that caries a lot of local produce, we also have a local farmers market in town, one where my grams lives 20 miles from here an organic farm market only a few miles from where we are moving and the local flea market has tons of produce and plant vendors at it.Now by local I mean with in 20 miles because we are more then a little out of town.

Now in the winter it is a harder. The only place I can get local grown goods is at the farm auction about 50 miles from here. There you can buy from the Amish who have greenhouses at their farms. This is not too inconvient to me because I go to the livestock sales their twice a month, which is when they have their produce sale the same day.

I did look at local harvest a the other night and was amazed at the CSA that I knew nothing about that is less the 5 miles from where I grew up. And the amount of farm markets popping up with in 30 miles of us really surprised me to. It has always been more of a road side stand or trade your neighbor if you want it grown fresh and local.

 

[Beekissed]

You can even run an ad in the local free ad publication, well before gardening season, asking for any local gardners willing to sell their excess veggies for a little cash.

A lot of local gardeners have extra veggies at any given time and probably not enough to take to a farmer's market, but more than they can give away or use. To make a little extra money on these would tickle them to death! I know last year, I didn't really have enough extra of a variety of veggies to do my roadside stand, but at any given time I would have enormous amounts of things like yellow str. neck squash or green peppers. You can pick up some real bargains at the end of the season, as well, as most folks have their canning done and are full of fresh produce, so they tend to let some items go to waste on the vine.