Hi All,

Taking a break from the hustle and bustle to catch up on some campaigns that are worth sharing will you local-food enthusiasts out there:

1. The Oregon Food Bank’s “Local Food Challenge:”

What is the Local Food Challenge? The Oregon Food Bank is challenging the whole state to spend at least 10% of their food budget on local food and track their spending weekly. The purpose is to promote local food and see how much people spend locally in the month of August.

How it works – Register and create a profile at: http://oregonfoodbank.flowerpotsocialmedia.net/users/account Then from August 1 – 31, log in each week and track your local food purchases.

The profiles are quick to create, and when you log into your profile in August to record your local food purchases. Include farmers market purchases, local foods purchased at the grocery story (the Oregon Food Bank is defining local as grown, raised or caught within 200 miles of where you live), u-pick, farm stands, and even in your own garden! You can also enter the average monthly cost of your CSA share (if you have one).

Find out more about the Local Food Challenge on their website, and get involved!

Local Food Challenge: http://www.oregonfoodbank.org/LocalFoodChallenge

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oregonfoodbankcfs

2. National Farmer’s Market Week

August 2 – 8th, is National Farmer’s Market Week. Most of you know that farmer’s markets are critical resources for providing direct to consumer produce from local farms. The one-on-one interaction between farmer and buyer does away with the middle man, meaning you often get better pricing, and a more transparent product. Many farmers are proud of how they grow their food, and are happy to answer questions that super market clerks can’t. What you may not know, is that farmer’s markets are also valuable to beginning farmer’s, who aren’t growing enough to appeal to wholesale buyers, and want to test their products and build rapport with their local markets.

If you support local food, be sure to make the extra effort to get out and shop your local markets! Your farmers and your taste buds will thank you!