Local Food

Local Organizations | National Resources | Journals & Publications | Conferences

Local Sustainably Grown and Produced Foods

Why not organic? Organic is important but the label is hotly debated. Local food experts suggested the use of the term sustainably-produced to be more inclusive of foods that are healthy for people and planet.

If not organic perhaps Real Food. Eliot Coleman, a well respect farmer and author on sustainable agriculture suggests Real Foods are:

1. Produced close to home (minimizing excessive transportation that reduces pollution and dependence on fossil fuels)
2. Purchased direct from growers (maximizing profit & prosperity for the farmer, cultivating direct eater-to-farmer relationships and supporting our local economy) and
3. Grown/produced in ways that are environmentally sustainable (improving biodiversity of soils, nutritional quality of foods, etc.)

• Northeast Ohio was recognized as a network of urban and rural centers with abundant sustainably produced local foods available for all citizens and where a greater percentage of the region’s $6.7 billion food budget is spent locally. See more of the E4S vision.
• Non-profit, government and academic resources are listed here. Find companies to help your business implement a local food project on the Local Food pages of the E4S Sustainable B2B Directory.

Local Organizations:

The Center for Farmland Preservation mission is to conserve the agricultural lands of the Western Reserve and promote the viability of agriculture as a part of the Northeast Ohio economy.

Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy (CVCC) is a private, non-profit corporation, chartered in Ohio, and headquartered in the Cuyahoga Valley between Cleveland and Akron. CVCC is a small think-and-do tank working to re-envision and rebuild local-regional farming and food systems in Northeast Ohio – systems purposefully designed to reconnect food in the public’s mind to farming and land, to community and nature.

The New Agrarian Center is committed to building a stronger and more sustainable regional food system in Northeast Ohio- a food system that promotes health in the broadest sense of the word: healthy land, healthy communities, and a healthy economy.

The Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Association (OEFFA) was formed in 1979 and is a membership-based, grassroots organization, dedicated to promoting and supporting sustainable, ecological, and healthful food systems.

The OSU Extension - Cuyahoga County provides programs and resources for commercial horticulture, market gardener training, community gardening, and more.

National/International Resources:

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) brings together community members, farmers and agricultural land in a relationship of mutual support based on an annual commitment to one another, a commitment that ensures the survival of local agriculture today and for future generations. The Robyn Van En Center offers a variety of services to existing and new CSA farmers and shareholders nationally.

Slow Food USA is an educational organization dedicated to stewardship of the land and ecologically sound food production; to the revival of the kitchen and the table as centers of pleasure, culture, and community; to the invigoration and proliferation of regional, seasonal culinary traditions; to the creation of a collaborative, ecologically-oriented, and virtuous globalization; and to living a slower and more harmonious rhythm of life.

Journals & Publications

No current listings.

Conferences

If you attended a food focused conference that was valuable to you, send us the link and we will post it here for others to attend next year.