Industrial agriculture & long distance food transportation and processing now generate up to 25% of all climate destablizing greenhouse gases. Farmers Markets across the country are reporting record attendance & sales. Massive amounts of CO2 are produced when the average, often highly processed & wastefully packaged store-bought food item travels 1500-2500 miles from farm to fork. You know you are doing the planet & our climate a favor when purchasing items grown by farmers in our area.

This month we remind you that buying foods in season can be as important as buying locally. A bag of tomatoes grown locally may have less of an energy impact that those shipped up from Chile. But grow those tomatoes out of season in a heated greenhouse and its energy impact can exceed the imported otion. Be sure to check out the local farmers market & accept our invitation to see our produce selections of peak of season organic fruits and vegetables and local grown produce.

Based on the exponential growth of farmers' markets, as well as retail and foodservice initiatives to add more local products to their merchandise mix and menus, Packaged Facts estimates that locally grown foods could turn into a $7 billion business by 2011. Consumers, equating freshness with higher quality, are increasingly looking toward the perimeter departments of their local supermarkets for fresh foods, which not only include locally grown and organic fruits and vegetables, but fresh meats, seafood, dairy, and baked goods as well. According to the report, retail sales of fresh foods totaled $230 billion in 2005 and in 2006 fresh produce surpassed fresh meat as the top-selling department in perishables.

Not surprisingly, the success of local and fresh foods is reaching far beyond the aisles of the local supermarket. "Restaurants, value channels such as drug stores and convenience stores, and even academic foodservice venues are tuning into the fresh and local consciousness that is taking hold in America," said Don Montuori, the publisher of Packaged Facts. "New trends, including "food miles," "the Slow Food movement," and even "locavores" who eat only locally grown foods, are just beginning to take root in the U.S. and we anticipate these and other trends will swiftly drive growth of local and fresh market foods." Local and Fresh Foods in the U.S. pinpoints and analyzes shifting trends in the marketplace for fresh and local foods, and identifies opportunities and strategies that suppliers, retailers, foodservice providers, and packaged goods marketers can use to protect and grow their businesses.