Organizations help farmers “brand” their foods

With gas prices soaring, families are beginning to see the benefits to purchasing their groceries from markets and retailers that carry products from local sources. Having worked in the specialty, natural-foods retail business for several years, I’ve been feeding my family foods from local farms for a while now. Somehow I knew, years ago, that eventually we would all have to come around to making some different choices about where we all spend our food dollars. Organizations around the country are working to help farmers “brand” their foods, featuring good at events and creating searchable lists online for consumers. Some of these promotional services are free; some are available to producers for relatively small membership fees.

Buying locally has more benefits than simply saving us money at the checkout counter. Small- to mid-sized farmers have literally been selling the farm to the highest bidder because they cannot compete with large agribusiness, creating a glut of urban sprawl and the stripping of natural resources by developers of highways and major suburban developments. Buyers of locally grown foods have more knowledge about how their food is grown and handled. And there is no doubt about it — fresher food tastes better! My children love to pick out vegetables and talk about where they’re from; and then help cook them and know what they’re eating!

Two very recent articles feature the growing “buy local” movement. See this story that appeared in Raleigh’s News & Observer on July 1st, titled “Buy local” effort could set a record. Another article, which focuses on the solution to a growing concern, is The Food, Climate, & Energy Crisis: From Panic to Organic, which appears in a publication by the Organic Consumers Association.

For North Carolinians, our options are vast and growing.

Carolina Farm Stewardship Association has created an online “Find Local Food” guide to assist Carolinians in purchasing locally produced meat, dairy and produce, as well as value-added goods such as jams, baked goods, sauces, and cured meats.

Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) also creates a Local Food Guide (in print and searchable web database). The organization supports farmers in the western mountains region of North Carolina, listing restaurants and grocers who sell their products. “Buy Appalachian” is the eat-local campaign sponsored by ASAP.