Forum dedicated to increasing awareness of green living through beneficial dialogue.

Sun Apr 19, 2009 6:13 pm

Fruit, vegetables, meat and milk produced closer to home rack up fewer "petroleum miles" than products trucked cross-country to your table. How do you find them? Search localharvest.org by ZIP code for farmers' markets, greengrocers and food co-ops in your area. The website, which includes handy contact information in its directory listings, also identifies restaurants that specialize in regional and seasonal ingredients.

If you really want to get close to the farm, join a Community Supported Agriculture project, which lets you buy shares in a farmer's annual harvest. In return, you get a box of produce every week for a season. It will take more than a few visits to the farm stand to reduce the carbon impact of the U.S. food supply. In the meantime, here's another reason to go local: the taste is great.

That is definitely true and there's a reason for why they taste better. The overwhelming majority of produce you find in the grocery store are harvested long before they've had a chance to fully ripen. In order for the produce to look appealing in the stores it needs to be harvested early and allowed to ripen in transit. Of course this affects the taste as most of the flavor in produce is gained in the final stages of maturity. The local farmers harvest their product within a few days of taking it to market allowing the produce to naturally ripen on the vine. Therefore you have a better tasting product!

Thu Apr 23, 2009 4:10 pm

i get nearly all my fruit and veg from a local farmers market that comes to my area every weekend... it does taste better.. plus it is all locally grown and in season produce...

Fri Apr 24, 2009 4:21 am

I have been supporting local farmers quite a lot now...I go and get my vegetables directly from the farmers who sell them near my home...I also grow a few vegetable that i can saving more of the fuel....and I do walk to the farmer
s place :YES:

Fri Apr 24, 2009 8:28 am

This is a great idea. I grew up on a farm but I live in the city now. Still, there are "farmer's markets" in the urban areas, especially on the weekends in the summer.

I'd like to check out the background of these, but I suspect it's quite possible that these markets are stocked locally.

Mon May 11, 2009 1:32 pm

I agree about locally grown produce having a much better taste. A local farmer grows elephant garlic that is two to three times bigger than the bulbs at the store. They are so fresh they actually crunch when you chop them. The smell of the garlic is wonderful, not stinky at all.

Mon May 11, 2009 2:20 pm

A lot of times when I see sites that will point out things in my area, I'm disappointed because I currently live in a smaller area and they rarely have anything listed. I'm pleasantly surprised to see several listed as nearby, though! A couple of the listings are places I didn't even know about, so all the better!

Mon May 11, 2009 3:36 pm

I buy all my veggies from a local farmers market near my home every sunday.. I also get locally produced honey (great for hay fever sufferers) eggs, and butter.

Tue May 12, 2009 9:37 am

In my area, there's been a dispute over farmers selling raw milk as opposed to pasteurized lately. Chefs prefer the raw milk and publicly support the farmers.

Do you have this issue where you live and shop?

Forum dedicated to increasing awareness of green living through beneficial dialogue.

Support your local farmer.

Support your local farmer.

Advertisement

Re: Support your local farmer.

Re: Support your local farmer.

Re: Support your local farmer.

Re: Support your local farmer.

Re: Support your local farmer.

Re: Support your local farmer.

Re: Support your local farmer.

Re: Support your local farmer.

Re: Support your local farmer.

Who is online