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25 Ways to Integrate Local Foods into Our Lives

Here are some quick, some easy, and some just plain fun ways to become a locavore:

1. Buy locally produced food. Doing so supports our small, regional farms and preserves our agricultural heritage and traditions. It strengthens our local economy and reinforces the web that connects us to others within and beyond our communities. It safeguards our environment by lessening our dietary carbon footprint from reducing the number of miles our food has been shipped while we enjoy the best tasting, highest quality food to be found. Piedmont Environmental Council’s Buy Fresh Buy Local food directory is the ultimate resource for sourcing local food. Go to: www.buylocalvirginia.org.
2. Shop at one of the area’s many local farmers markets. Get to know the farmers. Listen to their stories and learn their growing practices. Touch, smell and taste fresh, healthy and locally grown food. I say, “Meet a farmer, make a friend”. For a local listing, go to www.buylocalvirginia.org. For a statewide listing, go to: http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/vagrown-july/pdf/frmsmkts.pdf or www.localharvest.org.
   
3. Patronize grocers that sell locally produced food and request your favorite producers. For a list, go to: www.buylocalvirginia.org or www.localharvest.org
4. Dine at restaurants that include local food on the menu. Inquire about where the food on the menu comes from. Recommend your favorite local producers. For a list, go to: www.buylocalvirginia.org or www.localharvest.org.
5. Join a CSA(Community Supported Agriculture). A CSA is a mutually supportive relationship between local farmers and community members whereby annual membership fees cover the production costs of the farm. In turn, members receive weekly “shares” of the harvest during the local growing season which ensures them a bountiful supply of tasty, nutritious food as well as a deeper connection to their food source and community. For a list of regional CSAs, go to: www.buylocalvirginia.org or www.localharvest.org.
6. Eat fresh produce in seasonal and learn to cook with it. Consuming foods grown regionally and within season is the diet that nature intended and is designed to supply us with many of the nutrients we need for health and well-being. These most auspicious foods allow us to take in the terroir – or essence – of the land from which they are grown, deepening our connection to the natural systems and cycles sustaining our regional foodshed. For a seasonal availability chart, go to: http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/vagrown/chart.shtml, or pick up a copy of one of our many regional food ‘zines featuring recipes and articles on seasonal foods, such as In The Kitchen>, Flavor, Piedmont Virginian Magazine and Edible Blue Ridge,. The Weston A. Price Foundation (www.westonaprice.org) is a great resource for learning the art and appreciation of traditional food preservation and preparation. Or visit the Sustainable Table website at www.sustainabletable.org for a fusion of food advocacy and education, cooking methods and ideas. Alternatively, take a class in cooking with local food from Charlottesville Cooking School (www.charlottesvillecookingschool.com) or the Seasonal Cook (www.seasonalcook.com). But the easiest and most fun way to discover and experience fresh, seasonal and local produce is to patronize one of our area’s local farmers markets (www.buylocalvirginia.org).
7. Sign up for the EAT Local list serve to stay abreast of – and to post -- current, local food issues and resources. Do so at: https://list.mail.virginia.edu/mailman/listinfo/sustcomfood
8. Go visit a farm. Attend a nearby farm tour and get to know who is behind our local food supply. While you’re at it, try harvesting your own food at one of the area’s many U-Pick farms and orchards. For a list of U-Pick farms and farm tours, go to: www.buylocalvirginia.org or to http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/vagrown/index.shtml.
9. Participate in a community garden plot at either Meadowcreek Park or Azalea Park through Charlottesville Parks and Rec. Call 434-970-3592 for more info. Or, collaborate with your neighbors or home owners association to start one in an unused community greenspace. For more information on community garden projects in general, go to: www.communitygarden.org.
10. Get involved with an urban garden program, such as Quality Community Council’s Urban Farm Initiative. For more information, go to: http://cvilleqcc.com/Farm.aspx.
11. If you have a yard, plant a garden of your own. Let’s replace our chemical and energy-intensive lawns with edible plants (fruit and nut trees, berries, herbs and vegetables)! For more information, go to: www.foodnotlawns.com. For courses teaching permaculture and sustainable gardening, contact the Blue Ridge Permaculture Network (http://www.blueridgepermaculture.net). Better yet, visit Edible Landscaping in Afton and taste your way around their diverse supply of functional and edible plants. Their website is www.ediblelandscaping.com. Alternatively, hire someone to garden for you. Contact info@growingfoodandcommunity.org for more information.
12. If you don’t have a yard, learn about container gardening. There are lots of foods that can be grown in pots on patios and balconies and in windowsills. For consulting services, contact Growing Food & Community: info@growingfoodandcommunity.org.
13. Learn the art of traditional food preservation techniques (such as canning, drying and fermentation) and take advantage of surplus fruits and vegetables during a seasonal glut. Resources include: http://www.seasonalchef.com/preserver.htm, www.canningpantry.com, www.wildfermentation.com, www.sacredplanttraditions.org, http://www.ext.vt.edu.
14. Become an agricultural entrepreneur. Turn an old, cherished family recipe into a specialty food sensation by creating a great product using locally sourced ingredients and by marketing it well by taking advantage of the “buy local” momentum that is sweeping our region. How? Find out more by visiting the Virginia Agriculture & Food Entrepreneurship Program at www.vafep.org.
15. Share surplus food and garden supplies to friends and neighbors in need or to area food banks and community kitchens like the Thomas Jefferson Area Food Bank (http://www.brafb.org) and the Charlottesville-area Emergency Food Bank (http://avenue.org/efb). Donations of unusable yet perishable CSA shares may be coordinated with those in need by contacting the Charlottesville Community Food Project. Their website is: www.ccfp.wordpress.com.
16. Get involved in community foods projects or start one of your own. Find out what initiatives are taking place and how to get involved by joining Transition Blue Ridge’s “Food & Agriculture” committee and going to the website at www.relocalizecville.org. Or contact info@growingfoodandcommunity.org for more ideas.
17. Talk to your friends, family and neighbors about the importance of eating locally, the state of our current food insecurity and what options are available. Form a “support” group and, together, take the “locavore” challenge! For ideas and support, go to www.eatlocalchallenge.com.
18. Host or attend a dinner party with a local foods theme. Discuss where and how the foods were grown and compare the taste and vibrancy of these foods to processed and far-travelled foods. Not sure how to organize one, let alone cook up fresh, local produce and foods for a crowd? Contact Lisa Reeder, our local food and drink consultant extraordinaire at www.alocalnotion.wordpress.com.
19. Host or attend a showing of a documentary on food production and supply issues and follow it with a discussion. Check out our area’s own “Meet the Farmer” cable television program featuring interviews with our local food producers, buyers and consumers to hear what the current issues are facing our local food supply and what initiatives are taking place. Go to www.meetthefarmer.tv. Some good feature films to screen include “The Future of Food”, “King Corn”, “The Real Dirt on Farmer John”, “The World According to Monsanto”, “Power of Community”, “Peak Moment Television” and “Eat At Bills”. These are available from Netflix or by searching online or through special order from your local video rental.
20. Join forces with other people interested in discussing local food issues, initiatives taking place and how to get involved. Transition Blue Ridge hosts a monthly community dialogue about food (www.relocalizecville.org). Express our concerns, ideas and opinions so that our local officials are aware that food security is an important issue. Support organizations that advocate for scale-appropriate agricultural laws like the Virginia Independent & Consumers Association (www.vicfa.org). Check out what is happening with the Virginia Food Policy Council by going to http://groups.google.com/group/VAFoodPolicy.
21. Preserve our agricultural heritage and biodiversity by learning the practice of seed saving. Go to: www.southernexposure.com to learn about seed saving, to buy seeds and to get information on attending the annual Monticello Heritage Harvest Festival on September 12.
22. Catch rainwater from the roof in rain barrels or cisterns to conserve precious water that can be used to irrigate the garden without taxing our water supply. Contact our local rain barrel guru, Brian Buckley, at brianbuckley4@yahoo.com or find them at the EcoShop in Preston Plaza, Charlottesville next to Integral Yoga (where you can also pick up some local produce!).
23. Support organizations working to ensure a safe, nutritious and equitable food supply through volunteering and donating useful supplies and through making financial contributions. Volunteer opportunities abound at any of the aforementioned organizations and initiatives. You can also find out about volunteer and benefactor opportunities for the new day haven and community kitchen serving the Charlottesville-area’s hungry and homeless (slated to be open this fall) by contacting info@growingfoodandcommunity.org.
24. Learn and practice sustainable farming in the state of Virginia by reaching out to groups like the Virginia Association for Biological Farming (www.vabf.org), the Center for Rural Culture (www.centerforruralculture.org), the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (www.ssawg.org).
25. Vote with your dollar. Remember, every local food purchase you make contributes toward building a safe, secure, healthy food system and supply.
    

For more information on the Growing Food & Community intiatives, please contact Dawn Story at dawn@newmoonnaturals.com

Click here to learn more about Transition Blue Ridge.

Click here to see the first Public Service Spot about local food.

Click here to see the second Public Service Spot about local food.