Are you a "locavore?" The term was coined in 2005 by a group of women in San Francisco promoting eating only food grown or produced within a 100-mile radius. The term has become so popular that last year it was the New Oxford American Dictionary's Word of the Year. The "buy local" movement appears to be gaining momentum as consumers, businesses and institutions seek local sources of food from farmers' markets, CSAs, restaurant menus and local grocers. Kaiser Permanente and Grant High School, for example, are bringing local food into school kitchens and educating students about where their food comes from and how to prepare it.
SACOG has partnered with Valley Vision and Agriculture in Metropolitan Regions (AMR) to conduct a Local Market Assessment for the Sacramento region.
Stakeholder interviews combined with quantitative data will result in a detailed report showing opportunities and challenges to increasing local consumption of local produce, expanding local markets and distribution networks, and supporting agritourism and diversified, multifunctional agriculture. The assessment will also involve studying the current status of each of these areas, including information on dietary patterns and consumer spending on food, local marketing efforts, and the basic characteristics of a diversified farm. This research will help public and private interests develop strategies that will enhance access to the abundance of locally-grown food.
To find out more about buying fresh and local, visit the Community Alliance with Family Farmers website at www.caff.org.