I've long had this internal battle between locally-sourced products, organic and healthy stuff (no matter where they come from), and other things in my mind like fair trade, environmental impact, treatment of farm workers, bullying from big corporations, and general farming and gardening as a way of life. I've been confused, I must admit. Then, I explored my values. Have you?

Is "local" better? For some, indeed. Hands down! For others, local is the best if it is also organic and grown sustainably. For some, if locally grown vegetables are not organic, then they don't buy them. For others, organically-grown produce is king, no matter which multi-national company produces it. Others just purchase local stuff that is seasonal, and buy grocery store crap during the harsh New England winter months. You get my drift--there are many competing values when it comes to what is most important to YOU.

It's all highly personal and values-driven. But if you are a betting person, then you might want to place your wager on local fruits, vegetables, restaurants, agriculture products, microbrew, soaps, and other household goods. At least you have a better chance of personally connecting with the owner/grower/prodcuer and can lobby for changes that you would like to see.

Today in America soy and corn account for 50% of our total harvest, with most of that going to feed factory livestock. And 70% of our total farmland is dedicated to growing cows, pigs, lambs, and chickens in big business, factory settings. The only part of this equation that is local is that you and I pay, out of our taxes, $19 billion per year in subsidies that benefit 3,100 farmers who mostly grow soy, corn, other commodity crops.

Localvore or locavore:

Someone who exclusively (or at least primarily) eats foods from their local foodshed or a determined radius from their home (commonly either 100 or 250 miles, depending on location). By eating locally, most locavores hope to create a greater connection between themselves and their food sources, resist industrialized and processed foods, and support their local economy. Folks in New London, Newport, Sunapee, Springfield, Warner, Bradford, Claremont, Unity, and Grantham are all part of the Upper Valley Localvores. You can visit the Web site at: http://www.uvlocalvore.com/

Learn more about New Hampshire local farmers' markets and our regional-based economy at this link: http://www.nhfma.org/

Farmers' Markets, Pick Your Owns, and Farm Stands in New Hampshire! Here's the link: New Hampshire Farm Stands and Markets

When Local Goes Industrial. The local food movement is gaining enough popularity to capture the interest of big business. Some of the biggest corporate food companies are looking for ways to greenwash their products. Although it sure beats sourcing their crops from overseas and is a step in the right direction, the following marketing claims can be misleading since the actual processing of these often factory-farm grown products may be anything but local:
--Frito-Lay North America owned by PepsiCo is trying to portray Lay's potato chips as a local food in the regions where the potatoes are grown.
--ConAgra is trying to say that because Hunt's canned tomatoes are mostly grown within 120 miles of its processing plant in Oakdale, California, that makes them "local" for Oakdale, and maybe even Californians. Read this article!

Visit our friends at at edible White Mountains--a fabulous magazine celebrating New Hampshire's abundance of local foods, season by season, at the link below. Publisher and Editor KC Wright is a wonderful ambassador for New Hampshire and our local foods. We encourage you to become a frequent reader of this beautiful magazine as well. edible White Mountains Web site is: http://www.ediblecommunities.com/whitemountains/

The 100-mile diet translated to our area: For folks living around our parts, a "local diet" is defined as anything in New Hampshire. For Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee families, this also means buying from our great neighbors in Vermont. Now, I wouldn't exclude potatoes or lobster from Maine (we have our own delicious NH blueberries!) or winter spinach and greens from the fertile western valley of Massachusetts. Click here for a link.

Our local fruit growers! Nothing beats local fresh fruit. Visit Poverty Lane Orchards in Lebanon where their July berries and September/October apples are great! 603.448.1511. Visit their Web site: http://www.povertylaneorchards.com/ Or, Riverview Farm in Plainfield for apples in September and October. They can be found online at http://www.riverviewnh.com/

My favorite apple farm in the whole area--great for kids and families--is Gould Hill Orchards in Contoocook. They start in early August. Might want to call and get directions first. Their number is 603.746.3811.

If you are traveling outside our area to other parts of New Hampshire, it'd be a good idea to visit the current online guide to New Hampshire Products and Services at http://www.nhmade.com/

Eggs and Poultry in our region:

Bible Hill Farm at 206 Bible Hill Road in Warner 603.456.3504...all organic

Moonstone Farm on Bowles Road in Newbury 603.763.5176...all organic

Check out this website for the ten best ways to safely keep your backyard chickens healthy: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/1981-01-01/Ten-Commandments-for-Raising-Healthy-Chickens-Part-I.aspx

The best maple syrup in our area, from our local trees: Leavitt Family Maple at 546 North Road in Sunapee. You can call Will Leavitt before you come at 603.863.9760. He's a member of the Maple Producers Association of NH and a fabulously wonderful guy! His sugar house is something to admire as well.

Host a local movie night and potluck with your family and friends. Our list of gg.org favorite movies about food, organic, farming, and even chickens, is listed here. Movie List.

New Hampshire's 2009 Agriculture and Market report showcases the Granite State's diverse agricutural production. Here is the document: 2009 Ag Snapshot

King's Grant Farm October 2009 harvest report--The End of the Season!. Plenty of tomatoes, all kinds, despite the blight! Still growing fall beets, spinach, and rainbow chard. Brussels sprouts failed this year. Good (not great) blueberry crop. Apples looking solid. Still have plenty of summer squash on the vines. Bush beans were superb. Dward beans horrific! Basil, thyme, chives, dill, rosemary, and sage were excellent crops in 2009. Peas were delicious. Onions big and sweet. Early spinach and beets fantastic! Lemon cukes prolific and sweet--not too many seeds this year. Broccoli was just so-so. Roses delightful. Cutting garden tremendous!!! Daffodlils, croci, and tulips were plentiful and brightly colored. Rhubarb made the early spring more delicious. Bramble fruit sour this year. Compost pile grew nicely while the compost bin (and the worms) gave back four major loads! Until next growing season...

Two great sources of local foods! For locally raised lamb, I recommend Fruitcake Farm in Grafton, NH. They can be reached at fruitcakefarm@live.com or at 603.523.7013. USDA inspected lamb, washable tanned sheepskins, and blankets and throws. They are regulars at Enfield's and Wilmot's farmers' markets.

Beaver Pond Farm is one of my favorite year-round markets, conveniently located to many in our neck of the woods. Off the John Stark Highway, it offers a local variety of just about everything! And, the people are super nice! Visit their Web site as well: www.beaverpondfarm.us

Hemingway Farms in Charlestown has wonderful spring and summer veggies, and has great strawberries right now. Here's the farm's information. Hemingway Farm.

Here is the most current Valley Food & Farm Ag Bulletin from Vital Communities. Looking for the absolute freshest in locally-grown and raised foods? This comprehensive list indicates today's offerings in local, often organic, foods in our area--the Upper Valley. Click the top icon to receive your own copy of Tidbits. Hot off the press! Here's the link.

How do you make decisions about eating well when you wish to purchase local foods but, for reasons of time, availability, or cost, simply cannot? One organization, locavores.com, came up with a simple system. You can look at it here, with some cautionary comments from greatgrandmother.org. Eat well link.

If you want to ask smart questions when you visit your local farmstand, restaurant, or farmer's market, the good folks at Sustainable Table provide a set of questions based on the type of animal protein you are buying: beef, dairy, eggs, hogs, or poultry. You can download the pdfs or just read it online. This is a very helpful source of intelligence for those who wish to be smart local consumers. Read more here.

Vermont Earth Institute

VEI's discussion courses and educational programs bring people together, raise their ecological awareness and facilitate profound change in their values, habits and actions in caring for the environment.read more

Five nasty microbes are linked to factory farming. Factory farms are breeding grounds for virulent disease. These new "zoonotic viruses" can be spread from animal to animal and from animal to humans. There are a couple of reasons why these deadly viruses are occuring. First, animals are not supposed to live this way. This is the most significant change in their lives in the last 10,000 years. Secondly: antibiotics. Animals are fast becoming resistant.

How difficult does it have to get? We all know that the smarter we get about our food choices, the more challenging it becomes to buy right. If a gallon of locally processed maple syrup costs $55 up the street at your neighbor's sugar house, does it make sense to not purchase Canadian maple syrup for $40 a gallon thereby spending $15 more just to stay local? Or those summer avocados from California. They're full of vitamins and taste good at a summer BBQ, but considering the fact that they are trucked here from northern San Diego, is it worth the environmental damage and higher cost? Do you have your own "rules" for making similar purchasing decisions?

Local salt? Ever think of where we'd be without it? It has become the boogey man of our modern diet, paired with its cousin sugar. But it's important for life. In fact, thousands of Napoleon's troops died from minor wounds because their diet was lacking in salt. Do we have local salt? Read this great essay by one of our local treasures, Pat McGovern. She's a huge inspiration, a local leader, and provider of wise counsel to our Upper Valley neighbors. Read Pat's interesting essay here!

Local Bison. Bison, or commonly known as buffalo, is increasingly available direct from our local farmers, from our co-ops, and a farmers' markets. We've prepared an overview document to help sort out this old, but new, animal protein, comparing it against the usual suspects: beef, chicken, pork, fish, etc. Read more about it: local bison.

In Warner, you can visit Yankee Farmer's Market, one of our local buffalo farmers, at 360 Route 103 East or call Kieran or Brian at 603.456.2833. Or, visit their Web site at http://yankeefarmersmarket.stores.yahoo.net/