Harvest Moon (Neil Young cover)--- Nice song for the fall....

Local Food Labeling - Survey is ready

This links to our survey which is important for the future of "Source Verified"  local food labels in the Middle Atlantic region.  We are implementing bar-codes that retain farm locational information along with marketing info including hours, address and contact names/numbers. Source Verified Food purchasing

Auction opens a place for great ideas and possible future location for local food distribution

In Montgomery County,  MD   the county Parks Dept has closed the last continuously operating general store ( not a modern convenience store but one working from the same building in the same basic format as it was first built in 1901).  Could this become a Local Food distribution point for the western Montgomery County area between Seneca and Poolesville ?      Stay tuned,  and add your thoughts, please

Tools to help EVERYONE locate, purchase and eat locally grown foods

We're proud to share that our upcoming software is being released with new functionality this fall, so that a group of Maryland farms can post their products and consumers of all kinds can view and select food products that are available from Maryland farms.  please check with www.localfoodmd.com  and use the link to FarmsReach.com  to try out this system.  The system will allow buyers to view and select which farms they want to order from,  but it will also allow for searches by specific food products so that the buyer can choose between different farms if they want food from one particular area of if they like one or more farm's philosophy or particular farming habits ( environmental, animal concerns, organic, natural, etc).   DELIVERY OPTIONS for each farm will be identified,  so that no farm is forced to participate in our delivery program to the Washington or Baltimore metro areas,  but so that the consumer can find pick-up points or existing retail stores or co-ops that carry that farm's products.   We feel that so many consumers WANT to buy local but sometimes have trouble fitting pick-ups into their day-to-day schedules.  Consumers can quickly spot farms' hours of retail operations as well as public events  for times when a family wants to visit the farm where their food is coming from.   We want those folks to know their farmer like you might know your doctor,  dentist, accountant or lawyer. As the USDA program says " Know your Farmer; Know your Food".  Stay tuned for software updates, and enjoy this season's bounty from wherever you are.

More Local, More Often

We're thrilled to have connected with dozens more meat producers in Central and Western Maryland this spring.  We look forward to bringing online new coolers and other food storage locations to make the great local food available all during the growing season and beyond into winter 2010-2011.    Stay tuned and visit  www.localfoodmd.org

What are you local food plans for 2010

Consider how you will locate and include more locally grown foods in your summer 2010 diet.     We've started by increasing the size and content of our home garden,  and by trying to learn where all the local farms are located.  This weekend at Boonsboro MD GreenFest  we learned about lots of vendors -- farms, bakers, herb-growers,  soap makers and lots of other great " local" products.    It's amazing how many people are doing great things close to home for all of us.   We are working on software and tools to connects buyers with growers and www.localfoodmd.org  has a connection to FarmsReach which  can create an online community for any market area in America. Check it out and let us know what you think of it!

Online Shopping vs. Delivery options for 2010

I've had a number of discussions with people this winter about whether it would be easier to locate sources of " local food"  if a website featured listings of food products, farming techniques and other info in a place devoted only to local food.  While many farms feel that their current website introduces customers to their farming practices, products, location, etc.  many have agreed that some potential customers may not be finding their website and thus may not know that they offer the fine products they do.   So, we are continuing our work to examine software packages that can allow each farm to display,  without adding alot of maintenance work for them ( updating product availability, mainly) but also feeding new customer introductions to them.   Consumers are showing so much interest in local food,  but as their definitions vary --- some want food grown in their immediate 10 mile radius only, while others are in search of specific products that they are surprised to find within the state.  So keep googling farms, by name, by area, by products and let us know if the tools that we post are helpful..... Visit  localfoodmd.org for new informaion this spring