Tasteoflocal

Union Square Greenmarket: This is a man on the street account of consumers and farmers at the original farmers market in New York City.  Marketgoers talk about their reasons for buying locally and a farmer explains his motivation for entering this grueling profession (Link to story)

Locavore goes on a 250 mile diet: Leda Meredith decided a year ago to limit her diet  to food grown with a 250 mile radius of her apartment in Brooklyn (with some exceptions), which included her backyard garden and the entire state of Massachusetts. At the end of the 12-month experiment Meredith took time to reflect. (Link to story)

Community Supported Agriculture share pickup day: Community Supported Agriculture (or CSA) is an arrangement between farmers and consumers where consumers pay farmers prior to the growing season for a share of the harvest.  Shareholders receive weekly allotments of vegetables during the summer months. Benjamin Shute of Hearty Roots Farm explains the arrangement on a pickup day. (Link to story)

East New York Farms: Vacant lots in a once blighted area of New York are now urban farms in a neighborhood where access to fresh produce is limited. (Link to story)

United Community Center Youth Farm: A youth program started by East New York Farms hires 25 youth in a low-income community as interns. The teens have the opportunity to earn money, learn how to manage crops and access local food. (Link to story)

Cooking Class: Sixteen clients of Part of the Solution, (POTS) a community based organization in the Bronx, learn how to prepare food they receive from a CSA share. (Link to story)

Rooftop Beekeeper: David Graves has kept bees on New York City rooftops for over 10 years. Last year he lost all 17 of his beehives to Colony Collapse Disorder.  The bees are back now producing local honey. (Link to story)

Beer Table : Known more for their beer than their food.  Beer Table’s small and flexible menu makes serving local food simple (Link to story).

Palo Santo: Owner Jacques Gautier features Latin American food in his Park Slope restaurant, but he also features regional produce.  Palo Santo has both international and local flavors, some traveling just a few steps away on from the rooftop garden (Link to story).

Farm Visit: Eat Records is part record store, part coffee shop, part café. A large portion of the restaurant’s fruits and vegetables are purchased from Garden of Eve, a Long Island Farm. Owner Jordan Colón and friends take a trip to Garden of Eve to see meet the chickens who make his eggs.