2 minute read
Local Food on Every Plate
from SV Source Summer
by design83333
Finding local food is now easier than ever! Thanks to the Locally Grown Guide’s new mobile online guide your access to fresh, regionally produced ingredients is only a tap away. You can find restaurants with seasonal, locally focused menus and grocery stores specializing in products from local farms and ranches no matter where you are in the Valley.
This new resource, which complements the fourth edition of the printed Locally Grown Guide, is part of the Local Food Alliance’s (LFA) mission to increase access, variety, and affordability of locally produced food in the Wood River Valley.
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“Local food is the healthy, climatesmart, and delicious choice,” says Amy Mattias, Sun Valley Institute for Resilience Program Director. “Our work is focused on making it the easy choice as well. We are working to get local food on every plate in the Valley.”
Local Food Alliance’s plan to get locally produced on every plate is multifaceted. The printed and online Locally Grow Guides connect consumers to regional producers, making it easy to know what is available and from where. Recipes and tips within the Guide help individuals get the most out of their food dollars. And for the big picture, investments through the Sun Valley Institute for Resilience’s (Local Food Alliance’s parent organization) Impact Idaho Fund are helping start and expand local food businesses and regional climate-smart agriculture projects.
Another big push for LFA this year is facilitating local purchasing commitments. With the LFA’s local food procurement framework, businesses, organizations, and institutions can develop a concrete strategy for consistently purchasing locally grown food.
“Economics come into play when we’re talking about local food,” says Executive Director, Nate Twichell. “Getting more businesses and institutions on board with buying local food guarantees farmer outlets for their products. On the flip side, building capacity for local food production and distribution through investment assures local institutions that the products they want will be available. We’re working on both sides of this equation and seeing the growth.”
Work on investing in local food businesses and connecting producers to buyers hinges on continuing to grow interest in local food. To do this, the new mobile version of the Locally Grown Guide is aimed at reaching the largest possible audience with information that makes the local choice the easy choice.
“By giving consumers simple ways to get involved in the local food system, the Guide expands the demand for locally produced food,” adds Twichell. “That demand is a powerful driver for the larger positive economic, social, and environmental impacts of local food.”
The new mobile version of the Guide puts the consumer at the center of the local food system. Fully searchable listings make finding farmers producing certain ingredients simple, location services allow users to find a locally sourced meal at a moment’s notice, and the front and center seasonal eating chart makes finding what’s fresh a breeze.
The 4th Annual Wood River Valley Locally Grown Guide is available at Sun Valley Source racks throughout the Valley year-round.
Visit locallygrownguide.org and use the new online Locally Grown Guide to discover something new today! S
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