Brattleboro, VT, Mar 08, 2011 — Farmers markets have seen huge growth in the past three decades. They give consumers access to local food, sometimes at a lower price. And farmers can sell without a middleman getting a cut.

A growing number of markets now run through the entire winter. The state agriculture department says New York has 75 markets that run December through March. None of those, however, are in the North Country. Check out today's related story to find out why.

First, a visit to a winter farmers market, from WNPR's Nancy Cohen in southern Vermont.  Go to full article

Plattsburgh, NY, Nov 22, 2010 — Thanksgiving can be a great opportunity to savor a real harvest meal, even given the North Country's growing season. Martha Foley and Cooperative Extension's Amy Ivy inventory the menu possibilities. (And it isn't all root vegetables!)  Go to full article

Oct 12, 2010 — Community Supported, or Shared, Agriculture - CSAs for short - are growing, spreading even into cities, where garden space is at a premium.

Customers typically sign up to buy shares of the season's production. They get fresh, local produce while growers get improved financial security. Sellers and buyers often enjoy getting to know each other on a personal level too.

A landless CSA in Ottawa has just finished its third season. Using a website, social media and word-of-mouth publicity, VegetablePatch founder Jesse Payne has found a ready supply of urban homeowners with yard space they're willing to share. Payne says there's real excitement about combining good eating with better land use.

Lucy Martin got an on-site tour to learn more.  Go to full article

Canton, NY, Jul 23, 2010 — NCPR and TAUNY, Traditional Arts in Upstate New York, have been keeping track of gardens across the North Country in a project we call The Garden Plot.

At midsummer, our plot has grown, just like the gardens we've been watching. Martha Foley talks with TAUNY's Jill Breit about what we've learned from gardeners about growing vegetables and collaborating on the internet.  Go to full article

Ottawa, ON, Jul 21, 2010 — Last week, David Sommerstein reported that a shortage of meat cutters and slaughterhouses is a limiting factor in the growing trend to eat local. He visited New York State's only certification program for butchers, at SUNY Cobleskill. (see link below)

Turns out Americans across the country are learning the details about how their meat is butchered. Many self-described foodies are taking classes where they work with experienced butchers, donning aprons and using cleavers, saws and hatchets to cut up slaughtered pigs and other animals.

Organizers say the classes indicate the public's growing interest in how the food they eat affects their health and the planet. They say that interest is driving more people to shop at farmers markets and even raise chickens in their backyards.

Canadian chef Steve Mitton, co-owner and head chef of Murray Street Restaurant in Ottawa's Byward Market, is part of that broad culinary movement.

Mitton's kitchen combines creativity with efficiency, using techniques he learned from butchers in Germany, where eat local is nothing new. He told Lucy Martin his apprenticeship was kind of an accident.  Go to full article

Plattsburgh, NY, May 05, 2010 — Over the next few days, farm leaders are taking a sort of local food road show across the North Country. Cornell Cooperative Extension is offering an "Eating Local Yet?" conference tomorrow in Plattsburgh, Friday in Canton, and Saturday in Watertown.

The goal is to persuade more consumers to buy local fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy. The keynote speaker is one of the pioneer's of the local food movement.

Jennifer Wilkins is nutritional science expert at Cornell University. She wrote the nation's first food guide tailored to regional eating in the 1990s. She told David Sommerstein processed foods that rely on commodity subsidies and a heavy carbon footprint dominate the supermarket and fuel America's obesity epidemic. Local produce, on the other hand, is fresh and better for you and the land.

"Eating Local Yet?" conference, which will be held tomorrow night in Plattsburgh, Friday night in Canton, and Saturday afternoon in Watertown. The event will provide contacts for local farmers, recipes to cook local produce and meat, and lessons on how to make your own sauerkraut, lard, and other foodstuffs. Pre-registration is required. Contact your local extension office to register. The fee is $10.  Go to full article