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Thread: Does anyone follow the 100 mile diet, or Locavores? Looking to buy food from farms...

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  1. #1
    Senior Member sylvia's Avatar
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    Does anyone follow the 100 mile diet, or Locavores? Looking to buy food from farms...

    I am really looking to find a local farm to buy eggs and fresh veggies from. Does anyone participate in a buying club, co-op or CSA? I am thinking of participating as a shareholder to a local farm and get those delicious boxes of weekly veggies.I think I may even save on food that way. But need some guidance.Thanks in advance. I am out of Chicagoland area.

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    The only advice I can give it do it soon. My niece owns a local CSA farm and shares are usually gone by early March. There are several CSA farms in my area and all shares sell out early spring.

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    Senior Member bae's Avatar
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    The majority of what I eat comes from sources within a day's walk.

    Many of our local CSAs have transitioned from a "here's your box" approach to one in which you fund them earlier in the year, which gives you a credit balance at their farm stand. Less logistical bother for the farmer and the consumer.

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    Quote Originally Posted by bae View Post
    The majority of what I eat comes from sources within a day's walk.

    Many of our local CSAs have transitioned from a "here's your box" approach to one in which you fund them earlier in the year, which gives you a credit balance at their farm stand. Less logistical bother for the farmer and the consumer.
    Have they run into issues with that? I know one of the reasons for the "box" was variability of how the crops turned out - sometimes you'd get a box you'd never usually pick yourself because some things did really well and others not so much.

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    Senior Member bae's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by creaker View Post
    Have they run into issues with that? I know one of the reasons for the "box" was variability of how the crops turned out - sometimes you'd get a box you'd never usually pick yourself because some things did really well and others not so much.
    They don't seem to, but they've been at this a while now here, know what grows, and plant plenty of things to make sure there's always something surviving. I imagine if you were a new hipster local-foods hobby "farmer" you might have more issues with crop failure, and have to hand out a box with 3 kale leaves and a wormy rutabaga though :-)

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    Quote Originally Posted by bae View Post
    They don't seem to, but they've been at this a while now here, know what grows, and plant plenty of things to make sure there's always something surviving. I imagine if you were a new hipster local-foods hobby "farmer" you might have more issues with crop failure, and have to hand out a box with 3 kale leaves and a wormy rutabaga though :-)
    And the credit at the farm stand would only get you what they have... so if it's wormy rutabagas, so be it.

    The credit instead of box idea seems really smart. Our local box programs are still just that, though they do sell excess at the local markets and their own farm stands. Think I'll mention this idea to them -- it could be a really useful variation.

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    The box obviously allows them to hand over what was picked that week and of sufficient quality. If they are planting a really diverse array of crops some less popular items might go unsold at a stand, regardless of credit held by the buyers. Around here you can usually pick from a few different plans that allow you to avoid what you don't like and go heavy on what you do regarding what will show up in your box weekly. The farms all have stands as well and (I believe) offer discounted prices on additional produce to their CSA members. It seems to be a nice balance with benefits for all.
    "Back when I was a young boy all my aunts and uncles would poke me in the ribs at weddings saying your next! Your next! They stopped doing all that crap when I started doing it to them... at funerals!"

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    There are CSAs where you live, Sylvia--just Google it and you will find many, or if you can wait until spring, start going to farmer's markets and there you can identify your sources for local food very easily.

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    LOVE our CSA. We've been members at least 15years maybe longer. We paid for the season in late December. $636 for 20 weeks. We love our farmers. It's all we can do to eat it all with 2 of us so needing anything else is unusual for those 20 weeks.

    Farmer's Market starts in May and runs to the last weekend before Christmas. We go there as often as possible when we do need something else.
    We buy meats from those vendors.

    I buy free range eggs from someone at work. OMG if you haven't had farm fresh eggs you MUST. Amazing. And only $2/doz!

    So yes, we Locavore as much as possible here in this deep winter climate part of the USA.

    I check labels and do not purchase imported fresh foods. If it needs an airplane or a boat, we don't eat it. (that said hubby buys 2 pineapples during our garden harvest so he can make pineapple habanero jam and salsa. So he sacrifices high mileage there-but it's still USA from Hawaii

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    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    Are you anywhere near Angelic Organics? It's in Caledonia, IL. I'm actually subscribed to them on FB, even though I'm nowhere near them, because they have such a great farm--I heard about them when I saw a movie about the owner, The Real Dirt on Farmer John. It was pretty entertaining. www.angelicorganics.com

    And here's a Chicagoland CSA guide: http://www.familyfarmed.org/wp-conte...ide-mar23d.pdf

    My "home farm" is a "Permaculture Cooperative and Wellness Center"--they offer box shares but also market shares, which is great because we simply pay up front (in December) for the next year, and it serves as a "credit" for anything in the farm market we want.

    The Cooperative also has a free-range egg business.

    I find it incredibly easy to "eat local" in New Jersey. I'm pretty lucky.
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
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