Q&A

DEAR NEW FARM:

Where can I get organically raised vegetable, meat and milk directly from farmers who care about their products and that are not mass produced? I need ways to get in touch with these farmers to buy from them.

Lynn Reed
Georgia

DEAR NEW FARM:

I would like to find out who I could contact to start a farmers' market at the shopping center where my gallery is. We are located in the historic Roswell area. I personally buy only organic and go to other markets to buy my free-range meats and feel very strongly about supporting the organic farmers.

Thank you,
Donna McDonald
Timothy Michael Gallery
Roswell, Georgia

DEAR NEW FARM:

I want to know more about organic farming and the availability of organic farms/foods in southwest Louisiana.

Roxanne Camara
Louisiana

DEAR LYNN, DONNA AND ROXANNE:

All over the country, people are asking the same question: Where can I go to buy healthy, fresh, local food and also meet the farmer who raised it? Folks are learning that real food security means knowing where your food comes from and supporting local farmers so they can continue to grow it for you. To meet this desire, farmers' markets and CSAs are popping up all over the place. Membership organizations that help these farmers is also skyrocketing, and not just with farmers, but with food activists, students, educators, families—anyone who holds a fork and realizes the impact of their food choices. These farmer support groups typically hold an annual conference, conduct on-farm field days, and host community events and fundraisers that bring people together around the theme of good food. They are a great go-to place to find farmers in your area and to help with efforts to market local food, such as setting up a farmers’ market. Georgia Organics ww.georgiaorganics.org is a shining example; so is the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group www.ssawg.org, which supports farmers and eaters across the South.

Other places to find farmers, CSAs and farmers’ markets in your area include our own Farm Locator www.newfarm.org/farmlocator; Local Harvest www.localharvest.org; the USDA’s CSA and farmers’ market resource pages www.nalusda.gov/afsic/csa; and the Robyn Van En Center for CSA Resources www.wilson.edu/wilson/asp/content.asp?id=804.

The New Farm website is also an excellent resource for tips on starting farmers' markets. The best way to find these stories, or any subject matter you are searching for on our site, is to use the on-board Google search from our homepage. In this case, just type in “farmers’ markets” and you’ll find a plethora of information, from tips by farmers' market guru Nina Planck to commentaries about “food swapping.”

So get out there, find your farmers, be sure to thank them for their efforts and enjoy your meal.

NF

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