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Signing up for a CSA (community-supported agriculture) and paying in advance for a weekly box share from a local grower supports family farming and promotes eating and cooking with the seasons.
Buying potatoes from Canastota, peaches from Sodus and apples from LaFayette drastically lowers our “food miles”—the distance food travels to reach our plates—which reduces the use of fossil fuels and ultimately reduces our carbon footprint.
Planting a garden and growing your own food? That’s uber local, the food equivalent of driving a Prius.
Without a doubt, eating local—in other words, becoming a locavore—has many benefits, not the least of which is taste. But if you’ve never done it before, how do you get started?
For Meg Schader, who, with her husband, Bruce, owns and operates Wake Robin Farm, a dairy farm and creamery in Jordan, the answer is right before her eyes: “Go to the farmers market,” Schader says. “You really can buy almost everything you need there. Look around and see what’s in season and plan what you eat around what’s there.”
The Schaders bring their fresh yogurt, milk and cheeses to the Central New York Regional Market, 2100 Park St., each Saturday, and usually head home with a bag or two of provisions. The marketplace has expanded greatly over the last several years, Schader says, to include eggs, breads, cereal and granola, sauces and seasonings, meat, fish and poultry, artisan pasta, coffees and more. “I do a lot of my shopping at the market,” she says.
Even when you go the extra mile to eat local, Schader says, there is always room for improvement. In a recent Facebook post, Schader noted that she had “finally” become a member of the Syracuse Real Food Cooperative, 618 Kensington Road, where Wake Robin products are a staple.
“Figured it was about time, since we’ve been shopping there for about 15 years, and selling there almost as long,” Schader notes. “Better late than never!”
Here’s how some other Central New Yorkers buy local and eat local.
Alisun Hernandez: One Step at a Time
Alisun “Sunny” Hernandez comes at being a locavore from several angles. She loves to bake and blogs about her pie-making adventures at foryourpiesonly.com. The blog has helped introduce her to foodies in the Central New York community and all over the world.
Earlier this year, she made a vow to exercise more, eat more healthily and lose some weight. She’s eating more fresh and organic foods, less processed foods and doing more of her shopping at places like the Central New York Regional Market. (See the list of local farmers markets on facing page.)
“Last year, I went to the market for the first time in the middle of winter,” she recalls. “I assumed it would be pretty bare. I didn’t even know it was open in the winter. There wasn’t a lot of produce, but I could still get locally made pasta and bread and cheese and granola and meats.”
She’s gone from stocking up on things like cereal, cheeses and yogurt at the grocery store to waiting until she can get to the market to buy locally made products. She’s also getting to know the vendors there.
“It’s definitely a shift in mindset,” says Hernandez, 30, an associate producer at a local website. “I used to get a lot of boxed cereals. Now I find myself getting MuMu Muesli {a raw, unprocessed cereal, similar to granola, produced in Sharon Springs}. One of my favorites for breakfast is to have that and some Wake Robin Farm yogurt.”
Tips for eating local: Start by thinking local, one aspect of your food life at a time, Hernandez suggests. “Like when you’re thinking about, ‘Where am I going to go to dinner?’ You could go and get a hamburger from a chain restaurant or you could go and get one from a place that’s owned locally. ‘I’m going to go out to dinner: Where should I go?’ Let’s say we’re going to get Mexican food. We could go to Taco Bell or Chipotle or to Alto Cinco. . .
“I think a good way to start is just taking it a little step at a time. Go to farmers markets. Instead of buying cheese at the supermarket, buy cheese at a farmers market. Think local when making decisions about where to go to eat. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing, I think every little bit helps. It makes a difference to our community.”
Last summer, Renee Benda spent so much time at the Skaneateles Farmers Market that she was the “Mayor” of it on Foursquare, a location-based social networking website. This year, she’s taking her love for homegrown produce a step further. She convinced her husband to tear down a shed on their property in Mottville, a hamlet near Skaneateles, and has planted a garden in its sunny spot (at right).
If the weather cooperates—and the slugs stay away—there will be a bumper crop of radishes, peas, beans, cucumbers, green and yellow squash, corn and pumpkins. And grilled squashes and red onion for summer suppers.
Growing your own food: That’s the ultimate in being a locavore. But Benda’s motivation is more basic. “I’m all about gardening, even though I’m not that great at it,” Benda says. “I just love being able to have fresh veggies I can pick myself.
“My sons are so excited,” adds Benda, 35, media and digital advertising director at Warne-McKenna Advertising in Syracuse. “I think it’s important for them to see where their food comes from. I’m hoping with our garden, if we can’t eat everything, we share it with our neighbors.”
Tips for eating local: “Just find the farmers market nearest to your house and support it. It’s easy to do once you start doing it. My kids saw garlic with long stems still on them and asked a lot of questions about the fruits and vegetables there. You really develop a rapport with the people who are there selling.”
Marty Butts: A Passionate Advocate
Marty Butts grew up working on a farm, buying produce from farm stands and keeping a small garden. He gravitated away from the “eat local” lifestyle for a while, then “reconnected with the idea” during his tenure as merchandising manager at the Syracuse Real Food Co-Op.
And he reconnected in a big way. These days, Butts serves as community education and outreach coordinator for the Northeast Organic Farm Association (NOFA-NY), where he advocates for local farmers and sustainable, organic agriculture. And as founder and owner of Small Potatoes Sales and Marketing, he works with small-scale food producers across the state to help improve their visibility, availability and sales.
Outside of work, Butts shops the Central New York Regional Market, signs up for a CSA in the summer and recently joined a buying club (wholeshare.com) “that allows you to buy local food from a distributor without having to go to and pay more at a grocery store. I place an order online, and then just pick it up every other week at the club coordinator’s house.”
He’s a locavore, for sure, one of the most committed locavores in the area. But he’s not so completely consumed with food miles that he won’t eat something from another state or country.
“I try not to be dogmatic about it,” says Butts, 35, of Syracuse. “I buy local when I can help it, and eat what I’m fed at friends’ houses. I tend to cook more than I eat out. For me, I try to just always have the local options in my mind whenever I make a food choice. I don’t think ‘locavore’ has to mean always eating local, but more always considering local. I choose it whenever it seems like a choice that works for me. Which, it turns out, is most of the time.”
Tips for eating local: “One of the things I always advise people getting started to do, is to pick one item in their pantry and commit to going local all the time with that product. Eggs, as an example, or locally roasted coffee.”
Take the Eat Local Challenge
During the New York Locavore Challenge, the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York (NOFA-NY) encourages consumers to eat all locally grown food—for a day, a week or the entire month of September. The campaign is flexible and free. New this year are daily challenges to help participants think local every day. A highlight of the challenge is the day of locavore potluck events (Sept. 30) held across the state. For more information and to sign up for the challenge, check nofany.org/events/ny-locavore-challenge as September gets closer. And since local produce is starting to populate area farmers markets, you have all summer to practice.
An App for That
Farmshed 2.0 is a location-based local-food app serving Central New York and the Finger Lakes. The app and website, created by Neil Miller of New Woodstock, offers detailed information on more than 1,600 local farms, farmers markets, local food producers, restaurants, wineries and more. For more information and to download the app, go to farmshedny.com.
Farmers Market Fresh
Since many Syracusans are working on, or thinking about, converting their eating habits into locavore status, we have compiled a list of local farmers markets found at nyfarmersmarket.com.
Onondaga County
Bayberry Market: Bayberry Plaza parking lot, Route 57 at Blackberry Road, Liverpool. Wednesdays, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., through Oct. 24. 652-1463.
Central New York Regional Market: 2100 Park St. Thursdays, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., through Nov. 1; Saturdays, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., year-round. 422-8647; cnyrma.com.
Camillus Farmers Market: Municipal Building, 4600 W. Genesee St., Camillus. Fridays, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., through Oct. 26. 488-1234; townofcamillus.com.
Cicero Farmers Market: Driver’s Village parking lot, 5885 E. Circle Drive, Cicero. Tuesdays, 3 to 7 p.m., through Oct. 30. 699-5233; ciceronewyork.net.
Downtown Farmers Market: Water Street at Clinton Square (on south side of fountain). Tuesdays, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., through Oct. 9. 422-8284; downtownsyracuse.com.
Eastwood Farmers Market: Eastwood Plaza, 3531 James St. Sundays, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. through Oct. 14. 345-8642.
Manlius Farmers Market: Parking lot behind Sno-Top ice cream stand, off Fayette Street (Route 92) near Village Centre. Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., through Oct. 31. 682-7887; manliusvillage.org.
Marcellus Open Air Market: Marcellus Park, Platt Road. Thursdays, 3:30 to 7:30 p.m., through September. 673-3269, Ext. 2; marcellusny.com.
Skaneateles Farmers Market: Austin Park Pavilion, 80 Jordan St., Skaneateles. Thursdays, 3:30 to 6:30 p.m., through Oct. 11; Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., through Oct. 13. 685-0427; townofskaneateles.com.
St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center’s Mobile Market: In front of St. Joseph’s College of Nursing, 206 Prospect Ave. Wednesdays, 1 to 4:30 p.m. community.relations@sjhsyr.org.
Syracuse Eastside Neighborhood Farmers Market: Westcott Community Center, 826 Euclid Ave., Wednesdays, 2 to 7 p.m., through Oct. 31. 478-8634; westcottcc.org.
Upstate Farmers Market: Community General parking lot, 4900 Broad Road. Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. June 28 through Oct. 4. 464-5180. Golisano Children’s Hospital parking lot, 1 Children’s Place (off Irving Avenue). Fridays, 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., June 29 through Oct. 5. 464-5180.
Cayuga County
Auburn Farmers Co-op Market:
Municipal parking lot, corner of South and Lincoln streets, Auburn. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., through Oct. 30. 678-1622; auburnfarmerscoopmarketinc.com.
Moravia Farmers Market: 130 Main St. (Route 38; in parking lot of Kinney Drugs), Moravia. Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., through Oct. 25. 497-8375.
Cortland County
Cortland Farmers Market: Main Street, between Orchard and Court streets, Cortland. Tuesdays and Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., through Oct. 27. (607) 835-6438.
Homer Farmers Market: On the Green, Homer. Wednesdays, 4:30 to 7 p.m., and Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., through October. (607) 591-5979; homerfarmersmarket.com.
Madison County
Cazenovia Farmers Market: Memorial Park, Albany Street, Cazenovia. Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., through Nov. 3. 655-9243; cazenoviachamber.com.
Hamilton Farmers Market: Village Green, Broad Street, Hamilton. Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., through Nov. 3. 824-1111.
Oswego County
Fulton Farmers Market: Canalview Park & Shop parking lot (off Route 481), Fulton. Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., through Oct. 27. 343-7681; oswegofultonchamber.com.
Oswego Farmers Market: West First Street between Bridge and Oneida streets, Oswego. Thursdays, 4:30 to 8:30 p.m., through Oct. 18. 343-7681.
Oneida County
Sylvan Beach Farmers Market: On the Canal, Sylvan Beach. Tuesdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., through Sept. 25. sylvanbeach.org.
—Compiled by Aubrey Zych
