Comparing our new duty station to the old one..

[Elle]

We were stationed in Virginia Beach for over 12 years.
This area was a fantastic hub for 'localvores'. Within a few miles of our home, I had access to:

The Farmer's Market which included an egg provider
Yoder Dairies which had a small store with ice cream and glass bottle milk exchange on site.
An organic food store, locally owned, that had relationships with local growers and knowledge of what was used on products of growers who were too small or unable to become officially' organic' certified.
Several CSA opportunities
Full Quiver Farms in Suffolks and a few others.. who are small family farms selling eggs, chicken, turkeys, beef shares (I believe before we moved). They also sometimes sold overage of veggies.. and expanded to having delivery host sites in each Hampton Roads city.

Since transferring to Jacksonville, here's what I've discovered:
Riverside Arts Market near Downtown each Saturday that has local growers from S. GA and Florida for fresh fruits and veggies.
Our little town has an Organic grocer (Grassroots) though I poked around and see very few products that are 'local'
A few small farms that sell eggs (mostly advertised on Craigslist)
Extensive list of U-PICKS in the region, especially for the upcoming Blueberry season.

.. Sad to say that I have yet to find a local dairy. Evidently, there *was one but they went out of business years ago. Still on the hunt, though.. Also have yet to find a local farm that sells chicken, eggs, etc. like Full Quiver in Suffolk, VA.

Glad to say, though, that there's several restaurants advertising to use local fruits and veggies from regional growers!

:)

[Backyard Permaculture]

I don't know if you are near Swoope Virginia, but Joel Salatin's world Famous Polyface farm ( http://www.polyfacefarms.com/) sells eggs, whole fresh chicken, beef, turkey, rabbit etc.

He has authored several books promoting family sustainable farming.

Ron

[Backyard Permaculture]

I don't know if you are near Swoope Virginia, but Joel Salatin's world Famous Polyface farm ( http://www.polyfacefarms.com/) sells eggs, whole fresh chicken, beef, turkey, rabbit etc.

He has authored several books promoting family sustainable farming.

Ron

[Elle]

Ron,

This is really neat.. actually, when we were stationed with the military in Virginia Beach, the local organic store that I mentioned used to sell Joel's meats. He did not transport/ship.. you had to go to him. So, the grocer would drive personally up there periodically and bring his meats back. You can absolutely taste the quality and pureness of it! It was expensive, so I mostly purchased and used in casseroles, stews, etc. Could not afford to purchase to serve individual portions.. Anyhow, yes, I've personally tasted his beef! <I was a little giddy - as I couldn't believe that I had read his books and then found it!> *I moved away a year ago so have no idea whether the grocer still is making the drive up there for his products.

[Elle]

..Here was another thought that I meant to include.

Has anyone else thought this?

Local 'small business' meat markets don't always equal local supply. We went to one this past week that's a 'mom and pop' type operation.. They said they had been around many years. (We had one like it in Virginia). They had local BBQ rubs and sauces..so I was thinking that their meats were also. I asked if it was a Florida producer, and they answered no... Their supplier is in Iowa. While using my purchasing dollars helps small local business, it's really food for thought in not assuming that because they are 'local' small business that their products are, as well. I got the same feeling as I had 2-3 years ago purchasing 'natural' not realizing it wasn't 'organic' (Before the media really started coming out stressing the differences).. :) Here I was thinking I would be purchasing 'local' meats and their chicken is actually traveling farther than the whole chickens from GA that our Florida based chain grocer sells. This doesn't mean that I wouldn't ever purchase from them, but it really got me thinking! (especially with thinking about how many resources I had in Virginia that were truly 'local') Hopefully, we can find the same down here!! :)