With the onset of spring, it’s a good time to think about your vegetable buying habits and consider your options for purchasing fruits and veggies in places other than national chain grocery stores. For those of us who live in chilly climates or urban areas, grocery stores offer an abundance of produce year-round to keep us healthy and meet our nutritional needs. Once it turns warm however, we’re no longer as limited in where we can purchase produce.

By buying locally grown produce, you support regional farmers, decrease your carbon footprint (since your produce doesn’t have to be shipped across the country) and contribute to your local economy. Locally grown food tends to be fresher than supermarket produce since it doesn’t need to travel far to reach your table, and does not contribute to the agribusiness industry. And while not all smaller farms are organic, the fact that the farms are small means they probably use far less chemical fertilizer on their lands than do their mammoth corporate counterparts.

So where can you find fresh, locally grown produce…

Farmer’s Markets

Let me start by saying that i love farmer’s markets. I would one day like to own my own farm, and when I visit my local farmer’s market on Saturday mornings in the summer and fall, I talk to the farmers and learn about what you need to do to make it in this shrinking industry. Portsmouth has a great farmer’s market that’s run by the Seacoast Growers Association, and offers live music, a variety of vendors and cheap, locally grown produce. Whenever I head out to the farmer’s market here I feel as if I’m connecting with my community and I usually meet someone interesting while browsing the tomatoes or picking out flowers to take home.

Farmer’s markets provide the sole venue for over 19,000 American farmers to sell their wares, and their popularity grew 18% from 2004 to 2006 (the most recent USDA statistic). Additionally, farmer’s markets are all about getting healthy food to as many people as possible, and many farmers will accept food stamps or WIC (Women, Infants and Children) vouchers. You can find a farmer’s market in your state by checking the USDA Farmer’s Market site, by visiting Local Harvest, a website dedicated to the promotion of local and organic foods, or by searching for “farmer’s markets” and your zip code.

Farmer’s markets sell more than just fresh fruits and vegetables. At most markets you can find herbs, plants, flowers, eggs, cheese, meats and breads all produced locally. You will often find artists and craftspeople at farmer’s market as well information on community organizations and outreach programs.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Community Supported Agriculture consists of community members joining together to support a local farm and share in the farm’s output. By funding the farm’s operations over the course of a growing season, community members participate in the production of their food, and also face the same risks as do the farm. When participating in a CSA program, consumers pledge financial support of the entire growing season, thus removing the burden on the farmer to market or distribute their food via retail outlets (though some still do so).

When food is ripe, CSA participants receive their share, but do not have the same choices that they might when buying from a farmer’s market or grocery store. When you participate in CSA farming however, you are making a commitment to the farm and to your community. This kind of support tends to establish closer ties between the farmer’s and their customers, and participants tend to feel more connected with their food. You also benefit from the diversity of the farmer’s crops, and may end up eating foods that you’d never previously considered due to the often erratic nature of growing food.

You can find out more about CSA programs by checking out the USDA Alternative Farming Systems Information Center, or the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association. CSA farms are scattered about the country, and most organizations supporting their use are regional. Other links to consider include: UMass Community Supported Agriculture (supporting Greater New England), Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training (supporting the Berkshires, Hudson Valley & Pioneer Valley), and the Madison Area Community Supported Agricultural Coalition (supporting southern Wisconsin).

Farmer’s markets and CSA programs aren’t your only alternatives for procuring produce locally. I will write more in a future post about Community Gardening, Cooperatively-owned Markets, and Farm Stands. In the meantime, consider checking out your local food market or doing a little research into CSAs in your area.