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| 4/13/2009 1:00:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | Ag feeds locals
Farmers, ranchers offer ways to keep money in community
Steve Grazier
Journal Staff Writer
Local food is growing more popular among consumers through buy local campaigns.
Buying beef and produce from area farms and ranches can be an investment in community and food security, and doing so allows consumers to meet growers, learn more about where food actually comes from and how it's produced, according to Jim Sincock, of Colorado Local Sustainability in Denver.
"Local food is a lot fresher, and there's a better health value with more vibrant nutrients," said Sincock, who also is publisher of the Rocky Mountain Growers Directory. "When you buy from a local farm, more of each dollar spent goes to them instead of to a middle distributor."
Denver-based Colorado Local Sustainability supports local-sustainable food production and is home of the Rocky Mountain Growers Directory.
Buy Fresh Buy Local is a national marketing campaign that aims to support local agriculture economies through the purchase and sale of local foods. The cooperative has the contract to coordinate the campaign in Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming. Some partners include the Wyoming Farmers' Marketing Association, Colorado Farmers Market Association and Valley Organic Growers Association, of Colorado.
The Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, which has been in existence since 1907, has chapters throughout Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming. One of its main goals is to achieve profitability for family farmers and ranchers.
Sincock said the interest of local food has picked up over the course of two years and suggested that purchasing food locally can help spread the word about the successes of regional farmers.
"People want to connect with this stuff," Sincock said. "They're getting sick of hearing about salmonella and E. coli outbreaks and want something friendlier and fresh."
Energy is also an equation in buying local, Sincock explained.
"The 1,500 miles for trucking is not so much the way to go anymore," he said.
Local food sellers are self-policing, according to Sincock. Unlike the global entrepreneur, the local food seller is unable to afford to disappoint customers with shoddy, unsafe products, and more to the point, they're friends, neighbors and sometimes relatives, he said.
A myriad of educational outreach events organized by Transition Denver and Getting Connected in Fort Collins inform people on buy-local benefits, Sincock said.
"They tend to focus on how to change the way we live, to be more healthy and aware of energy issues relating to food," he said.
Susann Mikkelson, director of fund and cooperative development for the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, said the idea of a direct market between local farmers and consumers is beneficial to both parties.
"Buyers can get a better price and the value of knowing the producer," she said. "A relationship develops as well as some (additional) knowledge on how food is raised. In return, the producers get more business."
Colorado Local Sustainability recommends the following tips to help support local farms and ranches.
n Go meet a farmer: Buying direct from a farm or farmers market enables growers to keep 80 to 90 percent of each dollar spent by the consumer.
n Join a community supported agriculture farm: Buy a share of the harvest at the beginning of the season and pick up fresh food once a week at its peak harvest time.
n Ask for locally grown food: If a store does not have local food, keep asking. Explain to an owner or manager why locally grown is better for the community, better for the environment, and better for consumers.
n Spread the word: Invite friends and neighbors over for an "eat locally" grown dinner. Help others connect with farms near them.
n Shop differently: Buying local doesn't have to be difficult, but it may require a little planning and breaking out of the grocery store mindset. When having a general idea of your meal plans for the week, it's simple to buy local meat and produce once a week.
For more information about the Buy Fresh Buy Local effort, contact Sincock at (303) 258-7460 or the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union at (303) 752-5800.
For more information, visit the Buy Fresh Buy Local campaign, www.buylocalrmfu.org; Colorado Local Sustainability, www.localsustainability.net; and Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, www.rmfu.org.
Reach Steve Grazier at steveg@cortezjournal.com.
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