Local/Community Foods

The local food movement is booming in Oklahoma!

Increasing numbers of farmers’ markets, local food festivals, even wineries, make it easy for Oklahomans to become Oklavores! (See links to local food info below).

Through programs like Buy Fresh, Buy Local and the Oklahoma Farm-to-School Program, Oklahomans of all ages are discovering the fresh flavor of locally grown foods and getting healthier in the bargain. The many products Made in Oklahoma from Oklahoma-grown crops grace the shelves of grocery stores and specialty shops around the state.

A rainbow of fruits and vegetables grow on Oklahoma farms. And nothing beats the taste of fresh, locally grown foods!

Find out how locally-grown, sustainably grown foods can be good for you, good for the environment, and good for family farms by exploring the links below.

For more information on the history and many projects of the Kerr Center’s Local/Community Foods Program, click here.

For more information contact:
Doug Walton, Community Foods Coordinator.

Buy Fresh, Buy Local Oklahoma Buy Fresh Buy Local connects citizens to farm-fresh, locally-grown food and farm products. Chapters are currently active in Green Country (NE OK) and Frontier Country (central OK).   It’s Fresh Oklahoma farms grow everything from asparagus to zuchinni  An Oklahoma Harvest Calendar   The Oklahoma Farm-to-School Program Kids are digging into tasty foods grown locally   Local Food Is About the … 10 Reasons to Buy Local Food   What is Sustainable? Everyone says it, what does it mean?   Students Speak About Sustainably-Grown, Locally-Grown foods Annual Kerr Center essay contest asks what you think and awards cash prizes to the best essays 2008: The Value of Locally Grown Food 2007: Renewable Energy: Are Bio-Fuels the Answer to Our Fuel Crisis? 2006: Get Healthy with Oklahoma Farm-to-School Program 2005: Healthy Choices in School Vending Machines 2004: Why Schools Should Serve Locally-grown Foods 2003: Protecting Our Farm and Ranchland 2002: Making a Sustainable Food System

Do You Know Your Farmer? Connect with farmers and farmers’ markets and find delicious local foods The Oklahoma Food Connection (A Directory of Farms & Farmers’ Markets Selling Locally-Grown) OK-Grown (A listing of farmers markets registered as Oklahoma Grown with the state agriculture department.) Find Local Food! (A collection of links to farms, farmers' markets, stores, and restaurants, from the Frontier Country chapter of Buy Fresh, Buy Local. Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food USDA's new local foods inititative. The following stories can be found in the Kerr Center's recently published report, Closer to Home: Healthy Food, Farms and Families.   Cut Those Food Miles The average food in the U.S. travels 1500 miles from farm gate to dinner plate. Buying locally can cut those miles 90% Buying locally saves energy! On the Menu: A Taste of Oklahoma Food Miles and Regional Markets Case in Point: Braum’s Dairy Get Your Hands Dirty Get up close and personal with soil and plants. Touch the earth to save the earth. Community Gardens School Gardens Working Together for Good Food The Oklahoma Food Cooperative offers Oklahoma-grown online Save Our Farms Farmland is good for the environment. Find out how. Farmland Preservation in Oklahoma Farming the Family Way: Conrad Farms Eat a Peach Lose pounds and get healthy with Oklahoma farm-fresh. Good Food For Good Health: Combating Poor Nutrition and Obesity with Locally-Grown Foods  Curing our Kids: Better Food for Better Health Other sources of locally grown food The following free websites allows users to search by ZIP code for sustainable farms and local foods of various kinds: Local Harvest and Eat Well Guide Farms, farmers' markets, CSAs, co-ops, grocery stores, restaurants, and more. Veggie Trader and the Farmer's Garden Trading/selling networks aimed at helping backyard gardeners find a use for their surplus harvests.

*Articles may be reprinted online or in other media if editor is first notified at mailbox@kerrcenter.com.

This project is supported by the Community Food Projects Program of the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, grant # 2004-33800-15141

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