Have fun!

Visit a farm

Fall is a great season to visit a farm and meet the people who grow your food. Many farms welcome visitors this time of year to pick apples and other produce, tour corn mazes, buy pumpkins and winter storage vegetables like squash, go on hayrides, check out barnyard animals, and have fun. Wisconsin’s Farm Fresh Atlases and SavorWisconsin list farms that welcome visitors.

Form an Eat Local Challenge team

Interested in working with others for the challenge? Recruit a team of neigbors, friends, family or coworkers to take the Wisconsin Eat Local Challenge together. (Please sign up for the challenge individually.) Once you’ve created a team, consider having an event like a local food potluck or picnic, or visit a farm together. If you feel ambitious, you could read and discuss one of the books listed in the local food links at the right (while snacking on locally grown treats).

Preserve the tastes of autumn

While canning and freezing food isn’t for everyone, putting up a batch of pesto, jam or other preserves is a delicious way to enjoy local produce in the winter. The web is loaded with resources for home food preservation including canning, freezing and drying. Your local Extension office can also provide you with recipes and help.

Don’t stop on October 4th!

Make local food part of your diet all year long. Here are just a few things you can do make local eating a part of your long-term plan:

• Grow food for yourself in a home garden or community garden.
• Join a community supported agriculture (CSA) farm. (What is this?)
• Invest in a chest freezer and buy local meats in bulk, directly from a farm.
• Ask your local grocery stores, restaurants and other businesses to stock and sell locally grown products.