Backyard Bites: Best Cities to Buy Local Food

How can people vet the quality of the local food they buy?

Largely by using social media and by word of mouth.  There are farmers markets held during warmer months in Ames and in Boone, Iowa.  In Des Moines, they’re held year-round.  The farmers markets serve as a source of information as well as locally grown items.

What are the best ways to find quality local producers?

Farmer Markets and possibly the local co-op store.  

Locally produced food isn’t necessarily cheaper than food sold at grocery stores. How can budget-conscious shoppers buy locally without breaking the bank?

Consumers must be very conscious of what food costs at local grocery stores and then how much more they are willing to pay for buying directly from the producer or a local small business.  Again, I believe social media (such as the Boone page on Facebook) plays a role.

What are the most common misconceptions about eating locally?

It’s a myth that these folks are always “back to nature” types.  It might be just as much wanting fresher items, items with fewer chemicals. They may also simply want to support local producers.

How can people vet the quality of the local food they buy?

Quality is a very subjective measure that can vary from person to person. There are industry standards in agriculture such as Grade A vs. Grade B or “seconds.” This often has more to do with the size and physical appearance of the product (especially for produce) than it does with flavor or edibility.

Consumers may also have values that they equate with quality that have to do with how the product was grown or raised—meaning the farm practices and values. One of the best ways to “vet” quality—or at least gauge whether the product you’re interested in is in line with what you’re expecting—is to actually speak with the grower themselves, or an employee that is familiar with the farm’s products. This is possible when buying directly from a farm or buying from a retail establishment or restaurant that source-identifies their local products.  

What are the best ways to find quality local producers?

Visit local farmers markets, browse the vendors, and strike up conversations with them. Also, there are databases of local farms such as MarketMaker or Local Harvest—although farm profiles are not always up to date on these. In Michigan, we have Taste the Local Difference which tends to be more up-to-date.

Locally produced food isn’t necessarily cheaper than food sold at grocery stores. How can budget-conscious shoppers buy locally without breaking the bank?

Understanding the seasonality of your local agriculture can help. When items are in peak season and plentiful, prices tend to be lower. See if the produce can be stored or preserved (frozen, canned, etc.). Proteins tend to be more expensive, so going for smaller portions and rounding out meals with filing fruits and vegetables can make for budget-friendly meals.

How can people vet the quality of the local food they buy?

Consumers need to educate themselves (from reputable sources like University Extension services, non-profits with a long history of solid reporting) about what represents quality.  Is it taste, texture, nutritional quality? 

Much of what we’ve been trained to identify as quality is really aesthetic choices like color and lack of blemishes, which may not indicate good taste or nutrition.  Produce in particular needs to be handled properly by both farmers and consumers or it doesn’t matter what the quality was coming out of the ground. Farmers have recently stepped up their game in managing quality. It’s particularly important for produce growers to correctly take the field heat out of their products to make sure they will store well for consumers.

For meat, consumers have to accept that locally produced meats are going to be frozen and that freezing doesn’t degrade quality – and they have to learn steps to take to cook with frozen products.  Organic meat is very difficult for farmers because of the lack of organic grains and local organically certified processing plants.  But consumers need to think about what constitutes their main reason for buying locally produced meats – health (measures of calories and fat may vary in meat from ruminants that graze compared with meat from animals that don’t graze), environment (grazing can be beneficial to managing marginal lands, pigs and chickens can be useful for cleaning up food waste left in the fields, (not waste from the household!)

Above all those consumers who have the time and money should cultivate relationships with producers and cooperatives)to build relationships of trust.  It can take time for locovores to develop the skills and routines to make these kinds of food their priority.

What are the best ways to find quality local producers?

Employing the same strategies that low-income consumers always do – working with friends and family to buy in bulk; taking advantage of numerous double-up bucks programs (if using SNAP), buying in peak season and preserving.  

What are the most common misconceptions about eating locally?

We should be talking about sustainable food systems in general, and we should be taking a regional approach to food systems.  That may mean buying things from neighboring states – but the basic premise remains the same:

1. Ecological production of produce, dairy, and meat
2. Making sure farmers, food businesses and workers are making a living wage
3. Authentic personal relationships of trust that support all people in the community having access to this kind of food. 

Sustainable food systems will not happen through the market alone – it will take a mix of market-based exchanges, self-provisioning, informal exchanges and sharing, policies, cooperatives. 

How can people vet the quality of the local food they buy?

The best way to ensure high quality food purchased locally is to get to know the farmers growing that food. A farm visit can be highly insightful and also meaningful to the farmer to see heightened interest in their hard work. Many areas house local food co-ops, and many of these (i.e. the Bozeman Co-Op in Bozeman, MT and Moonflower Co-Op in Moab, UT), feature the local farmers from which they source.

What are the best ways to find quality local producers?

At your local farmers market and food co-op. Many small towns also house local food social media groups. In Moab, UT, we have a local food co-op, a Moab Gardeners and Farmers Facebook Page, and a Moab Foodies Google Email group.

Locally produced food isn’t necessarily cheaper than food sold at grocery stores. How can budget-conscious shoppers buy locally without breaking the bank?

One way is to shop when local food co-ops have sales. During the last hour of the day, our local food co-op gives away produce that is turning. For the rest of the day, this is housed in a discount produce bin. A growing number of farmers markets and community supported agriculture programs also are accepting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

What are the most common misconceptions about eating locally?

Buying local doesn’t equate to buying vegetarian or vegan.

Also, the perception that local food costs more is tied to a complicated and broken system in the United States where industrial agriculture operations producing nutrient-poor, pesticide dependent, corporate-owned crops such as mass-produced corn, soy, and wheat, are subsidized. Hence, products featuring these in our grocery stores are cheaper.

How can people vet the quality of the local food they buy?

In conventional supply chains, quality can be based on size, color, taste, etc. In local food systems, consumers may value attributes of products that don’t fit within these traditional “quality” measures.

There is a growing movement to reduce food waste, and some local food markets cater towards providing “ugly produce” that would otherwise be discarded. Other consumers may value environmental attributes over other traditional quality measures. 

What are the best ways to find quality local producers?

Many Cooperative Extension offices offer guides to local farms, and locations of farmers markets.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture has also created national directories.

Locally produced food isn’t necessarily cheaper than food sold at grocery stores. How can budget-conscious shoppers buy locally without breaking the bank?

In-season local produce can be very cost-competitive with grocery store prices. In addition, many producers sell “seconds” at farmers markets – items that may have small blemishes but are otherwise perfectly fine.

Joining a farm that has a community-supported agriculture model (where you pay for a share of the weekly harvest at the beginning of the season) can also be a very economic way to buy local and support local farms and ranches.

I also recommend that budget-conscious locavores interested in purchasing meat consider less popular cuts. For example, a Denver steak.

What are the most common misconceptions about eating locally?

Perhaps that local food is always more expensive. Yes, there are items that can be more expensive, particularly as farms and ranches that sell through local food markets tend to be smaller in scale and have higher costs of production, but there are some items that are cheaper. 

How can people vet the quality of the local food they buy?

The concept of quality really depends on the individual.  Some attributes can be assessed visually at the farmers market or farm stand, and the same with taste characteristics. 

What a lot of consumers care about though are the attributes that are not easily observed, like production processes, worker treatment, and animal welfare. Educate yourself on the impact of different production techniques and speak to farmers to find those whose values align with yours.  Word of mouth and social media are other great ways to identify high-quality options.

What are the best ways to find quality local producers?

Again, word of mouth and social media are the best ways to find producers in your area. There are national databases like Local Harvest that are a good place to start, but details aren’t necessarily comprehensive or up to date.  Your state probably has a locally grown website for its state branded program that may include producer information.  The Connecticut  Dept of Ag has a list of farmers markets, farm stands, and CSAs in the state.  

Locally produced food isn’t necessarily cheaper than food sold at grocery stores. How can budget-conscious shoppers buy locally without breaking the bank?

The best way to save money is to make sure you’re purchasing products in season.  I’d recommend getting acquainted with your state’s crop availability calendar, and purchase locally when those products are in abundance.  Joining a CSA can be a good way to get local products more affordably, especially for meat.  If you are concerned about eating all the produce you receive, a lot of CSAs offer half-shares, or you might consider splitting a share with a friend. 

 What are the most common misconceptions about eating locally?

The biggest misconception is that eating local is too hard, and only possible for wealthy consumers.  It requires an up-front investment of time to learn about what is grown seasonally and who the area producers are.  Once you get tuned into that local food network, you will find there are lots of available information sources and collaborative efforts to make this food more accessible.