Go local, go fresh, make the connection

The obvious connection to your local growers is the nearest farmer's market.  But it might not be all the near so while it might take a little work to find local foods, you might find that either your favorite foods are produced by a local grower or that a locally grown item is in a great grocery item!

For example, I LOVE Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider.  It's 100% apples and it's from the town I grew up in, my parents even worked in the orchards for a time.  They have lots of products now but I like the classics. We have the straight juice less of the time, usually going for the sparkling apple cider to fancy up a meal and the holiday celebrations. (I say that I buy a ton for all the kids but I just want to make sure there'll be some leftover!)

http://www.lundberg.com/

Or, another example: nearby there's a company that I've bought products from for years called Lundberg Family Farms. They're really growing and keeping up with all the sustainable practices and it makes me proud that they're from NorCal. I buy their brown rice in large bags from Costco which is great.  Last year I found a product called Sunshine Burger (a patty, really, not quite a burger) that has some really purist ingredient (Certified Non-GMO) practices and they USE Lundberg Family Farms rice!  What a great discovery that was!  I contacted the Sunshine Burger company and made friends with the rep, had breakfast with him and his colleague when they were coming through town. 

And so the obvious fruits, veggies and grocery items might be easy to find but meats might be harder to locate. If you have been paying attentions to the headlines, you can get a little worried about all the recalls on meat products. If you start asking around you might find that local colleges and universities might have the names of local agricultural extensions and groups that will provide you can with names of local meat producers who will proudly tell you about their sustainable farms, grass-fed, free-range, etc.  If you've seen the video Food, Inc.  (available through Amazon.com or check your local libraries) then you probably have a hankering to know where your meat is coming from.

If you're curious, put out feelers and see what's going on in your neck of the woods. In bigger cities it might not be so obvious but there are surrounding rural areas providing their goods. If nothing else, it's a good way to explore your area and make some great new friends.