Local food is more than just a farmers’ market treat. It’s a catalyst for meaningful change. Not only is local food more nutritious due to a shorter time between harvesting and purchasing, but it also strengthens our economy. Did you know that farmers who sell locally keep 60 cents or more of every dollar, compared to only 14 to 17 cents when selling out of state?
Keeping food dollars in Montana builds a more resilient, food-secure state that is less dependent on vulnerable supply chains. Recognizing the impact local food will have on our future, Abundant Montana created the 33×33 for Montana Initiative, aimed at growing local food consumption from 3% to 33% by 2033. We hope you’ll join us in achieving this goal by increasing the amount of local food on your plate!
Follow these five steps to reach 33×33!
STEP 1: Know Your Farmer
Knowing where to find local food is foundational to increasing the amount of local food you eat.
Abundant Montana’s Find Food and Farms Map makes this easy. The online, interactive map lists over 1,200 (and counting!) local food businesses in Montana, including farms and ranches, restaurants, grocery stores, and more. Each profile contains details like contact information and available food products. Best of all, the map is searchable by location, product, business type, growing practice, keyword, and so much more!
Once you’ve found a farmer near you, visit their website, sign up for their newsletter, and follow them on social media. You’ll learn about the foods they grow, the practices they use (such as organic, regenerative, and low-stress livestock handling), and if they offer agritourism activities like U-picks or farm visits.
TIP: Explore the Find Food and Farms Map to find local food near you.
STEP 2: Start Small
Habits stick when they’re manageable. Once you’ve found where to source local food, choose one ingredient or category of foods to swap out for a local option.
Begin with easy swaps. Does your regular grocery store carry local eggs? Start there! Already shop at your weekly farmers’ market in the summer? Try sourcing a full meal from what’s available! Once each swap feels routine, add another. You’ll be eating from a locally-sourced plate before you know it!
TIP: Swap one item at a time. Consistency is more important than perfection.
STEP 3: Eat Seasonally
Eating locally often means eating seasonally. While our industrialized and globalized food system gives us access to almost any food year-round, not everything grows in Montana, and foods that do are only ripe during certain seasons.
While having access to out-of-season foods year-round may seem like a ‘win’, it actually results in many losses. Shipping food long distances has environmental costs, and affects the freshness and nutrition of food. Fruits and vegetables are at their peak nutrient density when they are fully ripe. When produce is shipped from another state or country, it must be harvested before peak ripeness (and therefore peak nutrition) so it arrives at grocery stores before it rots. Because local produce can be picked at or closer to peak ripeness, it’s more likely to be nutrient-dense. Plus, it’s fresher, so it will last longer in your fridge (we’re looking at you, spinach)!
One way to take the guesswork out of eating seasonally is to join a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. A CSA operates like a subscription, offering regular (typically weekly) shares of seasonal produce, and sometimes dairy, meat, eggs, or flowers, depending on the business or available add-ons. Many CSAs require pickup, but some farms offer delivery!
Growing your own food is another way to eat seasonally. Whether it’s a small community garden plot, a single pot of tomatoes on your porch, or a row of herbs on your windowsill, growing your own food deepens your appreciation of every seasonal bite.
TIP: Cut out the Seasonality Guide (p. 94-95) and hang it on your fridge!
STEP 4: Eat Local Year-Round
You may be thinking, “If I’m eating seasonally, what am I supposed to eat during Montana winters?” Good news! There are many ways to eat locally beyond the growing season!
Shelf-stable foods like lentils, honey, barley, wheat, oats, sunflower seeds, garbanzo beans, pinto beans, pasta,
flour, and dried herbs can be bought and stored in your pantry. Preserving food is another key strategy. Whether your garden produced an overabundance, or you simply bought too much from the farmers’ market (we’ve all been there), freezing berries, pickling cucumbers, canning tomatoes, or drying herbs allows you to enjoy seasonal flavors during colder months, while reducing food waste!
Buying meat in bulk is another great way to keep your freezer stocked with local food year-round. Shares are typically sold by the whole, half, quarter, or eighth animal. Buying meat this way can be significantly cheaper than buying the same cuts and amounts at the grocery store, making switching to local meat a no-brainer. With your freezer full, you don’t have to think about buying meat for months at a time!
STEP 5: Join the Local Food Club
To help you find, choose, and buy Montana grown and raised food, Abundant Montana launched the Local Food Club, a place to inspire you to explore and expand your consumption of local foods, and to help track consumer participation in Abundant Montana’s goal of 33% local food on Montana plates by 2033.
Change is easier and more fun when we do it together! By joining the Local Food Club, you become part of a collective effort to strengthen the local food economy, grow the demand for Montana food, and build a more resilient local food system.
For the 33×33 for Montana Initiative to succeed, it will take all of us! Everyone who eats is a consumer, and consumers have the power to be the catalyst for meaningful change.
TIP: Join the Local Food Club and start tracking your local food journey today!
FIND MORE STORIES LIKE THIS ONE IN OUR LOCAL FOOD GUIDE!
Written by:
SAMMIE MCGOWAN