Why and where to buy locally grown food

Three reasons to buy food locally:

1. Buying food from local farmers helps preserve farmland, which is a big part of what makes Northern California so beautiful
   
   
2. Buying food from Bay Area businesses and farmers keeps money in the local economy, which is especially important during this difficult economy
   
   
3. Buying food directly from the person who grew it (or form a shorter "food chain") means it's likely to be safer to eat--that's because farmers who sell directly to customers have greater accountability than those who remain anonymous within the big food system

Five places to buy food locally in the Bay Area:

1. Marin Sun Farms Butcher Shop | Point Reyes Station: organic, free-range meat grown on local farms; the butcher shop is owned by a young, talkative local rancher
   
   
2. Mission Pie Shop | San Francisco: a non-profit organic farm in Pescadero grows all the ingredients for these pies (including wheat for the crusts), then youth in the Mission are employed to make and sell the huge, scrumptious pies
   
   
3. Mariquita Farm CSA | This vegetable farm near Watsonville runs a CSA program, in which customers buy a sort of subscription to the farm at the beginning of the season, then each week they receive a box of produce composed of what's growing on the farm that week. To deliver the produce boxes, each week farmer Julia Wiley drives to a different restaurant in SF (e.g. Incanto, Globe, Pizzetta). She parks at the restaurant for two hours, during which the CSA members come to pick up their produce and talk, hang out, and even drink wine with Julia. A fun, different, and tasty way to buy your vegetables.
   
   
4. Farmers Market in San Francisco | San Rafael | Berkeley
   
   
5. Rainbow Grocery | Real Foods | Good Earth | All grocery stores buy directly from local farmers.

About Lisa M. Hamilton, author of "Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers in the age of Agribusiness"
For more than ten years, writer and photographer Lisa Hamilton has been telling the stories of farmers in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Her work has been published in National Geographic Traveler, Harper's, The Nation, Orion, and Gastronomica. She lives in Northern California.
Website: http://www.lisamhamilton.com

Hamilton will be signing copies of her book, "Deeply Rooted" at Point Reyes Books in Point Reyes Saturday July 25 at 7PM.

Point Reyes Books
11315 State Route 1
Point Reyes Station CA 94956
415.663.1542
Open Daily 10 - 6
books@ptreyesbooks.com