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Eating Locally

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How to Eat Locally and Why it is Beneficial

Eating Locally means eating food grown locally, purchased from local grocers, fruit stands or farmer's markets, not from retail giants.
Eating Locally also means dining out at local restaurants instead of large chains or franchises.
Eating Locally benefits your community by keeping your money in the local economy.
Eating Locally benefits the environment by reducing energy for transportation.

Locally Grown Produce

Support your local vegetable stand or farmer's market. It is a wonderful way to get really fresh produce, grown locally. I try to go to my local vegetable stand every other day. I only buy enough produce to last 2-3 days. I used to be notorious for buying enough produce to last a week and forgetting it or never getting around to using it and throwing most of it away. Now I buy what I will be using that day or the next.
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If You Can Only Read One Book, Read This One!

The book that opened my eyes to eating locally.
Real Food: What to Eat and Why

Real Food: What to Eat and Why

by: Nina Planck

Amazon Price: $6.49 (as of 05/30/2012)Buy Now

This book is so worth reading. It opened my eyes to where my food comes from, where it traditionally came from and how to eat healthier. It is not a vegetarian book, it discusses why to choose pastured meat and free-range eggs and chicken. It really changed the way I look at my food and how I approach buying my food.
My husband read this book first. He heard Rachel Ray recommend it on 30 Minute Meals. It was nice to have him read it first instead of me trying to convince him of why we should buy pasture raised beef and free-range eggs.

Dining Out Locally

The next time you decide to dine out, skip the big chain restaurants and support a locally owned and operated restaurant. You can find these in the phone book or in a local coupon book from the paper. Keep your money in your community. The restaurants will be purchasing local foods cooked to order instead of mass produced, frozen, shipped, defrosted and served according to each chain's requirements.
When I travel, I see the same restaurants in every city. Try to find out where the locals eat.

Finding Local Meat

How do you find local meat? Well, if you have a local butcher, they may carry local meat or be able to order some for you. If not, you may be able to search for a local farm that will sell directly to you. You may have to travel a bit to find a local farm, but if it is within 100 or so miles, that would be feasible. Local meat will usually be raised on a much smaller scale than mass produced meats. This means the farmer is probably able to use more humane methods of raising the animals. When animals are not crowded they suffer from less infections and need less medication. You may even be able to find some pasture raised meats. DELICIOUS and much healthier than grain-fed meats. <a rel="cc:attributionURL" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/brizo_the_scot/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/brizo_the_scot/</a> / <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/">CC BY-ND 2.0</a>

How do you find local meat? Well, if you have a local butcher, they may carry local meat or be able to order some for you. If not, you may be able to search for a local farm that will sell directly to you. You may have to travel a bit to find a local farm, but if it is within 100 or so miles, that would be feasible. Local meat will usually be raised on a much smaller scale than mass produced meats. This means the farmer is probably able to use more humane methods of raising the animals. When animals are not crowded they suffer from less infections and need less medication. You may even be able to find some pasture raised meats. DELICIOUS and much healthier than grain-fed meats.
Photo credithttp://www.flickr.com/photos/brizo_the_scot/ / CC BY-ND 2.0

Pasture Eggs

If you never had a fresh egg from a chicken that is pastured you will not believe the difference. The yolks are bright yellow/orange and keep their round shape. The egg is so tasty and delicious. My mouth is watering just trying to describe how a REAL egg tastes.
In my area the produce stands sometimes carry local eggs, but they are a hot commodity and you may have to ask, they might not be displayed, but saved for special customers, because they go fast. Once you try a fresh, pastured egg, a store bought egg will have no flavor anymore.
Other ways to find a source of local eggs is to ask friends, ask at a co-op or butcher shop. You would be surprised how many people buy their eggs locally and keep it secret! The demand is higher than the supply. You will pay a little more, but the difference will be less than you would spend on a Starbucks coffee or McDonald's Fries.

Picture thanks to http://www.flickr.com/photos/rjl20/ / CC BY-SA 2.0
Or try raising your own chickens in your backyard. FYI you do not need a rooster to get hens to lay eggs. Backyardchickens.com

Grow your Own Food

Plant a garden, join a community garden or buy a share in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).
Here is a picture of my kids and some friends when we were part of The New Port Richey Community Garden.

How do you Eat Locally?

  • KadabaCo Apr 21, 2012 @ 2:36 pm | delete
    Not only do I shop at the local farmer's market, but I make sure I read the stickers as to where my food comes from when I'm at the supermarket. Choose the closest. Great lens and perfect to "like" for the Earth Day lens Quest!
  • Terrie_Schultz Feb 9, 2012 @ 11:32 am | delete
    I buy produce from the local farmers market.
  • Burningwoodarts Feb 8, 2012 @ 3:13 pm | delete
    I try to get as much produce as I can from my local farmers market.
  • LittleTwoTwo Feb 8, 2012 @ 12:03 pm | delete
    Honestly the first time I was asked this I said the store up the street ... dead seriously too. Being in an urban center, dependant on transit, I unfortunately only grow some of my veggies in summer and make use of farmers markets when I can ... though its all seasonal. I would like to be more involved or dedicated to a eat local, but just not there yet.
  • veryirie Feb 7, 2012 @ 9:42 pm | delete
    Some shopping at the Farmers Market, of course. :) I like the term "eat locally" though I've never thought of it that way before. Great subject!
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Resources for local food

Local Harvest.org
find local sources of food here.
The Eat Local Challenge
EatLocalChallenge.com is a group blog written by authors who are interested in the benefits of eating food grown and produced in their local foodshed.

Eating locally on YouTube ;-)

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Books about Eating Locally

Look for these books in your local bookstore or library.
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More Books about Eating Locally

Look for these books in your local bookstore or library.
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Books about What We Eat, Why We Eat, and How We Eat

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Blogging about local eating

Vermont Food Traditions And The Localvore Movement
By Jane Lindholm, Produced by Steve Zind Today's localvore movement and the agricultural traditions of the past have in common the idea of getting our food from local farms. But there are also striking differences between the cultures of those who ...
Feeding our Communities Conference 2012 - Taste Farmers Markets Awards
The 2012 Taste Awards will also announce the winner of the Farmers' Market of the year, with over 6000 localvore's voting nationwide for their tastiest local Farmers' Market. Farmers' Markets New Zealand (FMNZ) is a membership organisation representing ...
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