Eating Local
Why do people shop at farmer’s markets, roadside stands, or local food coops? Some of the answers may surprise you or may be the same reason you shop in these venues. The most common answers included: the produce tastes fresher, I feel that the product is more nutritious, I want to help local economy, or I want to help the environment. Whatever your answer, this is the time of year that is very exciting because the farmers markets and roadside stands are cropping up in the area.
It was interesting during a conference on local foods that I attended I learned that if every Nebraskan spent 25 cents per day on local foods, over $160 million dollars each year would be retained in the local economy. So if one of the reasons that you shop local is because you want to give back to the local economy, you are.
One question that I still have even after attending the conference was “What is considered a local food?” The answer may surprise you as it did me, because there is no set definition. Local foods can be any product that is being grown in your own county or neighborhood to any product that can be transported within a days drive. This definition is for you to set.
My own opinion on the aspect of the foods tasting fresher, I belief that they do. Eating fresh peas from the farmers market or roadside stand invokes memories of sitting on the front steps of my childhood home and shelling peas that had just been picked from the garden. We know that when something is picked fresh out of the garden and processed or eaten it is truly at the peak of freshness. A good reason to shop early and prepare promptly.
The collaboration of UNL Extension, Buy Fresh Buy Local, Nebraska Local Foods Network and Nebraska Cooperative Development Center has produced a number of publications on using the local produce. I have included a link that will provide you with several pdf’s for using the produce that you would commonly find in the spring and summer. Each publication has buying and storing tips to help keep your produce safe for the whole family. And several recipes to use with the produce. Scroll over the consumers tab at the top of the page to find publications to download.
http://cyn.nebraska.edu/nebraska_foods/
Enjoy the sites, sounds, smells and tastes of the local vendors and know that you are helping the economy as well as helping yourself.
