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Buying Local
Looking for farms where you can buy fresh-from-the-field produce or other farm products? Need some tips for cooking with or storing local food? You've come to the right place. CISA's Be a Local Hero, Buy Locally Grown® campaign has been pointing shoppers towards locally grown food, wood, and fiber since 1999.
Here, you can:
- Use our comprehensive searchable database to find local farm products.
- Access recipes, submitted by local farmers, restaurateurs, and community members, to help you use the local bounty.
- Find tips and resources to help you store local food through freezing, canning, fermentation, and cold storage.
- Discover some local and national resources to help you grow your own local garden.
- Learn more about our Local Hero farms, restaurants, specialty food producers, and more.
Buying Local-It Matters
We've seen the impact of buying local here in the Pioneer Valley. Whereas the trend of receding farmland continues in many areas of the country, the most recent Census of Agriculture revealed that the total acreage in farmland has actually increased in Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden Counties. Farming profitably continues to remain a challenge, though, due to rising costs, crop failure and poor weather, and fierce competition from the global food system.
The case for local agriculture has never been stronger. Buying local:
- keeps money in the local economy
- preserves family farms
- reduces oil-dependent transportation costs
- protects our local landscapes
- ensures that fresh, healthy food stays available and affordable to all
That's why, for over 15 years, CISA has led the way in developing initiatives that support farmers, create strong markets for their products, and build a thriving agriculture economy here in Western Massachusetts.