Eat Local: Farmers Markets, CSA's and Community Gardens

‘Local’ is the biggest food trend in years, according to the USDA. The number of certified organic operations in the US has vastly increased, and the natural and organic food market is set to outpace the growth of the total U.S. food market. Check out this article for more information: http://newhope360.com/agriculture/local-biggest-food-trend-decades-says-usda  

So, what does it mean to eat locally? 

- Being conscious of where your food comes from and being able to trace its origins
- Supporting local farmers, eating food that is grown or raised near where you live
- Knowing your food is grown or raised on a small-scale vs. mass produced by a large corporation

Interested in eating locally?  Here are a few ways to do it:

1) Visit your community farmer’s market. Depending on the climate in your area, the farmer’s market may be seasonal or year round. It’s a great opportunity to purchase affordable food (sometimes cheaper than your local grocery store), and meet those who are growing the produce, raising the meat, cultivating the honey, etc. In Salt Lake, the Downtown Farmer’s Market runs every Saturday from June-October, and if you don’t arrive early, you’re out of luck. Aside from the amazing fresh produce, you can find honey, a variety of cheese and meat, fresh flowers, etc. Here’s a photo of a few items I picked up last summer - plums, peaches, and a great local honey butter. I am counting down the days until the market opens this year!

2) Another option is to participate in Community Supported Agriculture or a CSA. When you participate in a local farm’s CSA, you’re investing in the farm for a season, and in return you receive a weekly bundle of fresh food from the farm. CSA’s range in cost (from $50 to $800 for a season), but the return on investment is worth it; a fresh basket of fruits and vegetables, meat and cheese - many of which are free from artificial growth hormones, pesticides, etc. You can participate in a variety of CSA’s. Here’s a great site that will connect you with a farmer’s market or CSA in your area: http://www.localharvest.org/

3) While you’re at it, why not just grow it yourself? Don’t have a yard?  Community gardens are pieces of land that are gardened and maintained by a group of people, and they're popping up all over urban settings. A great way to meet your neighbors, support the community and grow your own food at the same time. Plots are usually offered for $10-$50 for a single plot for a season. They vary in size, but you have the opportunity to plant anything you’d like...tomatos, blueberries, carrots, pumpkins. Many community gardens offer educational workshops, as well as youth programs. If you’d like to find a community garden in your area, visit: http://www.communitygarden.org.

Tell me, what does 'local food' mean to you?  And how do you eat locally?

The Real Food Challenge

Today I had the chance to attend an Earth Day Fair at Westminster College, a local university here in Salt Lake City. After several days of rain, the sun was shining and the flowers were blooming. Check out the beautiful pink flowering trees that sprinkle the campus. Not sure if they're cherry blossom or dogwood, but they were beautiful and very dreamlike!

My friend's husband is a student in the Environmental Sciences department, and part of a Real Food movement on campus called Westminster for Real Food. College campuses, both public and private, offer an array of food options from catered to cafeterias to fast food chains to Greek housing to convenience stores, but how many offer healthy, sustainable options from local sources?

Enter the Real Food Challenge: a nationwide movement to increase the pervasiveness of real food on college campuses.  Real food is defined by the Real Food Challenge as "food which truly nourishes producers, consumers, communities and the Earth. It is a food system--from seed to plate--that fundamentally respects human dignity and health, animal welfare, social justice and environmental sustainability." To me, the easiest way to define real food is that which comes from the Earth, free of artificial ingredients, preservatives, growth horomones, etc.  Just fresh, clean food.

Check out this adorable little ambassador.

The goal of the Real Food Challenge is "to shift $1 billion of existing university food budgets away from industrial farms and junk food and towards local/community-based, fair, ecologically sound and humane food sources—what we call 'real food'—by 2020." According to the website there are currently 363 schools across the country participating. Is yours?

Another 'movement' at the fair that I thought was pretty rad, was a funky, brightly-colored old school bus called The Green Urban Lunch Box.  When I stepped inside, this is what I saw:

Where seats once existed, there are now two large, wooden beds filled with dirt, seeds and tiny plants; a "mobile greenhouse" as founder Shawn Peterson referred to it.  The mission of The Green Urban Lunch Box is to educate on agriculture, sustainability, healthy eating, and bring the urban garden to schools in a creative way. As I mentioned in a previous post, urban gardening, whether makeshift on a tiny apartment balcony or a 4' x 10' plot in a community garden, is all the rage in progressive communities across the country.

They also have a program called The Back-Farm Program which is targeted to senior citizens and folks with disabilities; volunteers build community gardens in the backyards of program participants' homes. The staff maintains and cultivates the garden in exchange for a share of the produce. 

I love the creativity of Shawn's concept, and the fact that it targets children. With more and more people embracing real food, it's so important to encourage education in the next generation.  And in a time where even children's day-to-day lives are riddled with technology, constant stimulation and instant gratification, here's a program that encourages us to slow down. Let's teach our children to slow down. How magical to see the wonder and amazement in a child's eyes as they slow down, plant a seed and watch it grow.

Now You Know, Now You Grow.