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.

AOU Spring Social 2011

After months of planning, the event all came together much better than I thought it would. I guess I do have some hope for a career in event planning - like my family would say, "anna, your managing skills can be your best and your worst attribute, depending on who you're managing." Mr. Gordon Hamersley of Hamersley's Bistro in the South End is a total sweetheart. Gosh, I wanted to give him a big hug and tell him how much we appreciated his help. MOOPM* and I went there on our first formal date and it was a total blast. Everything from food to atmosphere to service was great and I'm so happy it was one of the places that MOOPM suggested at the time. No worries, I already have my fine stationary out and ready to write him a thank you note. Yes, I'm an old fashioned kinda' gal - I still handwrite my notes and some letters.

Our host, Rich Grossman, let us use his space at Ligne Roset and it was nothing short of spectacular. We felt like we were celebrating in someone's home but with much, much nicer furniture.

Enjoy the photos!

AOU Staff hard at work setting up the food

The shrimp was amazing.

It's just how we roll.

Looks amazing doesn't it? The furniture was super comfortable and Mr. Grossman invited us all to come back and try it all out - no obligation to buy, he says.

Here's Sandy modeling how relaxing it can be to sit on one of their couches.

The cocktail shrimp was simply delicious. Very plump, too.

Best deviled eggs I've ever had. Seriously.

Duck pate crostinis. I just love this stuff.



My best guess is that these are chopped portobello mushrooms crostinis served with whole grain mustard. Also, a major hit at the event.

Not my best photo but these were roasted red peppers and goat cheese crostinis w/ micro greens.

Our dessert station with cheese cake from Finale Bakery, fruit skewers from Whole Foods, and Coffee Cake from the Boston Coffee Cake Company

The crowd. And btw, that bed is called the Anna Bed priced at $4,500.