food on the table (www.foodonthetable.com)

Going Local: Happy Stomach, Happy Earth

Eating local can help support the local economy, bring fresher food to your kitchen, and minimize your food’s carbon footprint. Why not go local for a happier stomach and greener tomorrow? Here are some easy ways to integrate local food into your meal planning.

Farmers’ Markets

Visit a farmers’ market! Not only are farmer’s markets good, clean fun for any foodhead, but you can buy fresh food straight from the person who has grown it. There’s no better way to get to know your food than to get to know the person who handles it. Find a farmers’ market near you by using the USDA farmers’ market search engine.

Sometimes, farmers will even organize visitations to their farms, giving you access to the behind-the-scenes harvesting of your food. To find local farms in your area, poke around the Eat Wild website.

CSA

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a program through which a farmer offers a box of fresh farm products to the public in exchange for a flat rate “subscription.” Local Harvest describes CSA and gives criteria on how to pick the best farm for you. They also provide a CSA program search engine. Just enter your zip code and start checkin’ the scene.

Find a Local Food Restaurant

The fastest way to get local food into your mouth? Local food restaurants and establishments, of course! Ask friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers if they know of any local food restaurants in your area. Farmers at farmers’ markets may also be willing to give you a list of restauranteurs that they work with. There are also search engines that may be able to help you, like those on Organic Highways and Organic Kitchen.

Grow

If all else fails, grow a little local food yourself. Start with a herb garden and work your way up to lettuce, sprouts, apples, and berries. You could even buy a coop and a couple of chickens to get fresh eggs in the morning. While this is the most time consuming of all of the options, it is certainly the least expensive.

So, why not go local? If you love the earth and love getting closer to your food, eating locally grown food could be a great option for you. Happy eating.

James Kim is a writer for foodonthetable.com.  Food on the Table is a company that provides online budget meal planning services.  Their goal is to help families eat better and save money.