Local Foods

Marketing Local Food

The CFAES Center for Cooperatives is working to help businesses keep things moving forward in these difficult times. Marketing is a key aspect to maintaining or growing any business, including food and farm businesses.

The CFAES Center for Cooperatives, OSU Extension Direct Food & Agricultural Marketing Team, and Ohio Farm Bureau in Ross, Hocking, Fairfield, and Pickaway counties are hosting a virtual interactive experience for small and medium food entrepreneurs who are eager to grow their businesses. Foodpreneur School Coaching will give attendees an opportunity to engage with experts in marketing and promoting their local food and farm products, and more, to help them learn strategies to meet their growth goals. This educational opportunity will cover marketing locally raised meat, increasing produce sales, and promoting local food and farm retail products.

Foodpreneur School Coaching sessions will all be held online and will be offered over a span of three weeks with each session held on a Tuesday evening. The cost to attend the Foodpreneur School Coaching is $20 per session for Farm Bureau members, and $25 per session for non-Farm Bureau members. There is a separate registration for each session. We encourage early registration; each session will have a limited number of seats available. To learn more, go to https://cooperatives.cfaes.ohio-state.edu/events or see the postcard below and attached.

To register for the Foodpreneur School Coaching you can go to go.osu.edu/foodschool2020.

For additional information you may contact Charissa Gardner at gardner.1148@osu.edu.

FLYER

Start Your Own Seeds for a Heart Healthy 2020 Harvest

Seed starting is an important tool in the toolbox of every backyard grower, community gardener and urban farmer. If you start your own seeds you get to grow anything in the seed catalog in any season you wish. Check out this seed starting video below to learn the basics of starting your own seeds at home.

 

How to video: STARTING SEEDS FOR A HEART HEALTHY GARDEN

 

CLICK HERE for more information about maintaining a healthy heart by increasing red fruit and vegetable intake.

 

 

DWD: Peppers 3 Ways!

In the second class of the four part series, Dining with Diabetes (DWD) participants enjoyed a menu of Garden Stuffed Peppers, Cucumber & Red Onion Salad, Fruit Tarts and Infused Water.  The Garden Stuffed Peppers were prepared three different ways, and participants compared the carbohydrate content of each. The ingredients for all three recipes were identical with the exception of one cup of filler: riced cauliflower, lentils and brown rice.  Participants enjoyed each variety and were shocked by the difference and deliciousness of all three.

Food for Thought

OSU Extension Clermont County had fun visiting Wild About Kids – Wards Corner sharing where our food comes from!

SaveSave

SaveSave

Feeding the World – One Community at a time

Picture1“Local Foods”… What does this really mean to residents of Ohio? As Ohioans we use these types of words on a daily basis it seems, but do we really understand the need? Local Foods can aid in feeding a growing global population of 9 billion by 2050. We must produce more food in the next 50 years than has been produced in the past 10,000 years combined, all while tillable land is becoming less available.

In our ever changing world, today we as consumers, want the freshest product available to us at the most economic value. Often, the solution is to meet local producers and buy directly from them. This helps the consumer to not only enjoy local food, but also learn of the economic, nutritional, and social benefits of buying local. Freshness is one of the benefits of Local Foods adding to the experience of the personal connection between growers and producers. According to the 2012 USDA Agricultural Census, Ohio ranks among the top ten states for direct sales to consumers represented by a wide variety of food products. Two resources available in Ohio to aid in the challenge of linking the producer and consumer are: Market Maker and Ohio Proud.

Many people are searching for ways to improve their quality of life by eating local food. Consumers now wish to become the producer, not only in the produce sector, but in animal agriculture. This enables the consumer to gain an intimate knowledge of the food source in a hands-on environment. From this there has been an up-turn in economic development strategies to market locally produced foods. Interest groups in many communities aim to increase the accessibility to items for both wholesale and retail customers. These groups are sometimes lacking one essential component… research-based education. OSU Extension is in a position to educate these individuals in not only raising and growing their own food, but also in harvesting and storing their food products. This is an excellent opportunity for cross-program area collaboration within our system.

In Clermont County, we are especially looking at ways to bring multiple efforts together to produce a cohesive change. There are many tools available to aid in this effort. So, contact your local Extension office and get involved today in the local foods mission. Be a part of feeding the world today. The Clermont County office may be reached at 513-732-7070.

Endnotes:

Ohio Proud. www.ohioproud.org/

MarketMaker. https://foodmarketmaker.com/