How Local Can You Go?™
Take the Eat Local Challenge this Fall to find out!
Businesses, organizations and individuals are invited to take the Eat Local Challenge!

• Pledge to spend at least 10% or $10 of your weekly food budget on locally grown and locally    
    made foods during September and October.

• Enjoy fresh, local food that taste delicious and are healthier for you, your community and your    planet.

• Join in the fun at Eat Local Challenge events planned throughout the season including    
    Countryside Readers Book Club and Discussion Group, farm tours, potlucks, dine local nights   
    and other special events.

To register your participation, click here or download your pledge card by clicking the icon below. Complete the pledge card and return it to us today!

Eat Local Challenge Info & pledge card

Eat Local Corporate Challenge Info & pledge card

 

What is Local?
Local can be defined many ways. For some local means homegrown — fresh from their own garden. For others local means foods from Ohio or the Great Lakes region. And others define local as food that is grown or produced within a reasonable driving distance from their home or workplace.

For starters, we suggest drawing a circle around where you live or work — a circle with a radius of say 100 miles — and use that as your guide. Bear in mind that "local borders" are flexible and fuzzy. Use your own good judgment when determining what is local to you. (Example: a peach from Pennsylvania is ideal, but certainly a peach from PA is a better local option than a peach from Peru). Remember too that local also includes foods produced in our region by locally owned companies (preferably but not necessarily from locally grown ingredients). And local travels with you: when you visit other communities, look for local farms and foods produced in that region.

How Local Can You Go?™
We are leaving that up to you. But here are a few guidelines that may help you make informed local shopping decisions.
• Is the product locally grown or produced?
• Is the product a locally owned business?
• Is the retailer locally owned?
• Is there a local alternative to non-local foods you often purchase?
• If no local or regional alternative is available, are you choosing locally owned retailers &   businesses?
• If not, are you at least buying organic or fair trade products?

Remember, it's really about thinking local first, doing what you can — and looking for local alternatives that support our communities and economy.

Why Go Local?

Seven Things You Can Do to Localize
      Individuals/Businesses