Local Food
Lamorinda residents are rediscovering the benefits of buying local food. The way our food is grown, stored, transported, processed and cooked has an enormous impact on the health of the planet. By choosing to eat lower on the food chain, and focusing on local and organic produce, we can curb global warming and air pollution, avoid toxic pesticides, support local farmers and enjoy fresh, tasty food. More reasons to buy local... Following are resources to help you find locally grown food around Lamorinda...
Moraga Farmer's Market - open every Sunday from 9-1pm all year.
Walnut Creek Farmer's Market - open every Sunday from 8-1pm all year.
Orinda Farmer's Market - open every Saturday from 9-1pm from May through November.
Contra Costa Certified Farmers' Markets
Local CSAs (buy a share in a local farm - try it and you'll get hooked!):
Eatwell Farms (Dixon) - They offer a great variety of fruits and vegetables year-round. Organic pasture-raised egg shares are also offered. You can choose to receive a box every week or every-other week and can postpone boxes when you go on vacation. Box contains 9-12 items, each with a portion for 2-5 people. Pickup location is near Chows Restaurant.
Eat Outside the Box (Walnut Creek) - Members pick up their shares in Lafayette near Celia's. The shares are not individually packed. Farmers deliver in wholesale boxes and members weigh and pack their own shares at pick up.
Riverdog Farm (Guinda) - Contact Dave Buck (jdbuck44@gmail.com). He's trying to setup a drop-off/pickup location in Lafayette.
Frog Hollow Farm - Happy Child CSA (Brentwood) - This is a CSA that just delivers organic fruit and has a drop-off in Lafayette. You can also order many of their products through their web site.
Farm Fresh To You (Capay, CA) - This is a very large CSA (800 customers) with delivery to your doorstep, all over the Bay Area, and many options. You can quit at any time. They integrate produce from other farms and states - so the box you receive is mostly, but not completely from their farm.
Hurst Farms at 716 St. Mary's Road (across from Little League Fields) - has great organic produce from mid summer through fall. Stop in when the signs are out showing what food is available.
Grocery Stores with Local/Organic Produce:
Diablo Foods - has a good selection of organic produce. Sometimes they feature produce that's local.
Chows - they have a small, but high quality organic produce section. They steer strongly towards what's in season and sometimes you'll find unique items that are in season. The produce is mostly from California, sometimes more local.
Open Sesame - a very overlooked produce section with a wide selection of organic items from California.
Growing Your Own Food:
Planning Your Vegetable Garden by Master Gardener's of Santa Clara County
Produce That's in Season:
Vegetable Calendar by the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture
Local Community Gardens:
Moraga Community Garden - provides organic produce to some local restaurants, including Il Postinos. Contact Bill Durkin (sustainablemoraga@yahoo.com) for more information.
Other Resources:
Edible East Bay - Celebrating the abundance of local food in the East Bay
Contra Costa Local Food Guide hosted by the Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust
Buy Fresh Buy Local by the Community Alliance with Family Farmers
Locavores - We are a group of concerned culinary adventurers who are making an effort to eat only foods grown or harvested within a 100 mile radius of San Francisco for an entire month
Local Harvest - find farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area
Eat Local page by National Resources Defense Council, including what's in season. Read their study about the environmental costs of importing food into California.
This web page was prepared by the Sustainable Lafayette Local Food Committee, which shares ideas using a Google group.
___________________________________________________________________