Or maybe it’s cheese or pastry flour or chocolate chips he’s after. Anything grown or produced nearby is fair game.


“I’m trying to eat 99 percent local for this month,” Garber explained. “I’m sort of calling what I’m doing the new hunting and gathering.”


It’s easy and it doesn’t take much time, he said.


And the benefits are legion, from fresher food and better nutrition to cleaner air.


Advocates say buying local even shores up national security and helps counteract global warming, given that food is typically transported thousands of miles and is vulnerable to fluctuating fuel prices and other disruptions.


That’s the nutshell message of Buy Local Week, a July 10-17 effort urging shoppers to spend more food dollars on local products.


Part of a statewide Buy Local PA initiative, the event is being served up here under a Buy Fresh, Buy Local banner developed by the Friends of Central Market, Sustainable Lancaster and the Threshold Foundation Inc.


A kickoff dinner was held Friday in Central Market Square. Other programs have been scheduled throughout the week and are listed below.


To help consumers identify local food sources, restaurants and other food handling businesses are being invited to display the Buy Fresh, Buy Local logo.


A free 2006 growing season guide to local foods at market will be available there starting this week, said Linda Aleci, chairwoman of the Friends of Central Market.


It’s all designed to raise consumer awareness, show family farmers that there’s a demand for direct marketing and pump up the county’s economy.


Not to mention expanding local palates, said Garber of The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, the main organization behind Buy Local PA, (www.buylocalpa.org). People can ease into local eating simply by consuming foods in season, Garbor suggested.


But he said that his own more ambitious experiment has altered his dining habits surprisingly little. He cooks a bit more than he did. He noshes on biscuits instead of bread, and potatoes rather than rice.


It’s as simple as that, he said.


“I’m kind of blown away by how much food is grown locally that you might not think of.”




Food on the move




Still, many foods consumed in the Garden Spot originate far from home.


The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that the majority of American fruits and vegetables come from three states, Florida, California and Washington.


According to the nonprofit FoodRoutes Network in Millheim, food typically travels 1,500 to 2,500 miles from farm to table and spends a week or two in transit.


American farms have adapted to the slimmer profit margins of global competition by growing larger.


At the same time, reports FoodRoutes, family farm numbers are down by nearly 67 percent since 1920 and continue to dwindle.


Garber, a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission for Agriculture in Lancaster County, said the situation is brighter in this farm-intensive community but “also rather fragile” as growth propels land values ever skyward. With just 20 cents of the typical food dollar going to the farmer, according to the USDA, commodity prices have not kept pace with property trends.


Farmers who direct market receive much more of that dollar. But Garber acknowledged that direct marketing can complicate an already complex enterprise. Many farmers elect not to do it.


“The reality of the farms here is that most are tied into regional or national supply chains.”


The number of Lancaster County farmers selling produce at roadside stands or farmers markets has sharply declined since a 1982 peak of 921, according to the government’s agriculture census.


The result is that many shoppers have lost touch with their food sources, Aleci said.


“I think consumers have been so trained by the modern supermarket, in which everything is available all the time. “People spend a lot of time worrying about oil cartels,” Aleci continued. “But we have a food cartel. We have minimal control over something as essential as food.” There’s light at the far end of the corn patch, however.


The innate desire for fresh, local food produced by someone you know is alive and well, Garber said.


“Survey after survey of consumers shows freshness is the biggest selling point,” he said.


Consumer demand for healthful food is growing, according to Aleci, who said women’s periodicals are giving the topic increasing play.


Eating local is also the subject of “Simply in Season,” a cookbook published last month by the Mennonite Central Committee in Akron and featured in this week’s Sunday News Living section.


Communities in western Massachusetts and Oregon are leading the way with successful local agriculture initiatives, according to Aleci, who recently attended a food and agriculture conference in Portland.


In Philadelphia, celebrated Philadelphia businesswoman Judy Wicks and her White Dog Cafe are buy-local beacons.


Wicks has inspired and worked closely with Lancaster advocates over the past two years, said Aleci, who noted that Buy Fresh, Buy Local is also capitalizing on a built-in anchor, Lancaster Central Market.


Already, she said, citing The Meritage Restaurant, Carr’s Restaurant, Strawberry Hill Restaurant and PemberleyTea Shop, “there are a fair number of restaurateurs who ... walk three blocks from their restaurant and buy local.” Much White Dog Cafe fare originates here, and Garber said that the Philadelphia area remains a huge untapped market within this county’s “foodshed.”


Buying local farm products promises exponential economic benefits, said Fritz Schroeder Jr. of Sustainable Lancaster. Generally, Schroeder said, a $1 direct marketing transaction is thought to return $2 to $8 to the community.


He said local food proponents will be working to quantify the economic impact in Lancaster.


Meanwhile, Schroeder pointed out, there are many ways for people to dig in.


They can join an urban community garden like Lancaster’s Dig It! or buy a share in a community supported agriculture business such as Homefields Farm. Or, they can simply visit a farmer’s market several times a week.


Having vowed 10 years ago to boycott commercial chain supermarkets, Aleci said, she and her husband, Gene, have long since gone local. Walking to Central Market from their city home is easy and actually saves time, reported Aleci, who said the couple augments their menu with items from Mandros Imported Foods, Huber’s West End Market and John Herr’s Market.


“We don’t spend a lot of time fighting traffic driving to the grocery store.”


Buy Fresh, Buy Local Week events include a free screening of the “Food for the Future” documentary and talk by Lamonte Garber, 6-8 p.m., Tuesday, Cafe Aroma Borealis, 52 N. Queen St., and a home-grown dinner and presentation by PASA director Brian Snyder, 6-8 p.m. Thursday, George Street Cafe, 304 N. George St., Millersville.


Events on Saturday, July 16, include Cooking With Kids, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Central Market; Dig It! community garden open house, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., 452 S. Duke St., and Goodwill at Homefields Farm open house, 3-6 p.m., 150 Letort Road, Millersville.