Honestly I haven’t much experience with locally grown foods. Having been raised on super markets and restaurants, I have a feeling that there is much about my food I learned late in life. It wasn’t until a trip to visit family in Germany in 2007 that I even considered beyond where my food came from but how it got there and how it was treated/ handled prior to my purchase and consumption. In Germany as well as much of Europe, many people visit a market daily purchasing on average enough for a person to carry home themselves. My cousins would walk to the market each morning to buy bread and whatever my aunt told them to get for dinner, often stopping along the way home to purchase milk from a local dairy farmer. For me, experiencing the ways my German relatives purchased and prepared their food just seemed better because of one simple reason, the food that they always had to eat was to this day the freshest food I have ever had.
Today I try to consider where my food comes from far more than in the past. However I still don’t do my part as much as I should to help the local food enconomy. I have first hand experienced the farmers market held on Saturday mornings in downtown Sarasota and the benifits of handling ones shopping at such an establishment /gathering are clear. Aiding the local farmers, eating organic pure foods, peace of mind knowing where my food has been before me. These alone should be enought o encourage people to take a step back from the grocery store chains and consider what they are purchasing.
I was astounded to learn of the many varieties of crop we have lost over the years. Being a person who thoroughly enjoys trying new foods of any kind, it is simply depressing to see the impacts our past actions can make on the future. I was unaware that there even were 18 varieties of wheat let alone that we have lost most of them to extinction. I find it typical that corporations are now attempting to set up farming franchises throughout Africa under the guise of curing global hunger. We must rethink our methods of farming our planet as a species.
James Mitchell
biodilloversity 
Which local market opens in downtown Sarasota?
I also had no idea there was variety in foods, maybe like 1 or 2 for apples, potatoes, green beans, and some other varieties that are sold in the supermarkets, but other than that I was surprised to hear there were so many other varieties!
I too am extremely interested and surprised to hear about just how many food varieties there really are. 18 varieties of wheat………. wow. When going to a supermarket you really don’t even think of these kinds of things. It really creates a disconnect. I want to start going to the farmers market more often.
I am really curious to learn more about your trip to Germany. It sounds like a much healthier lifestyle and even brings in that whole community aspect. (Actually, it kinda makes me want to move to Germany). I think about it now and I think very rarely have I gotten to actually have FRESH food. Makes me hungry now.
This may be of interest to you, http://www.nrdc.org/health/foodmiles/fullyear.asp?state=10
The in season foods for Florida.
I wish america was like other foreign countries in how they eat. everything here is so unhealthy but most people in my opinion don’t care because its just a connivence for them, how many people in america would actually go to the super market everyday or any local farmers to just get their food for the day, none that i know. definitely interesting.
I can’t believe that there are foods that are becoming extinct, such as the several varieties of wheat, and we as a country do nothing about it! I don’t think it has hit us yet that WE CAN”T GET THOSE BACK! I will definitely become active in going to specialized food markets, such as farmer’s markets, to see if I can do my part in turning this corporate run disaster around.