Locallly grown food up 20%

Locally produced foods was one of the hottest nationwide trends in foods, one of which is farm friendly or local foods. Farm-friendly or local foods are just as they sound, foods that are found closer to the farm, often on the farm, but also at farmers markets, local CSA’s (community supported agriculture), and in local family-owned grocery stores. The vast majority of these farms often use different terms to describe their production methods. Common terms are homestead, organic, natural, sustainably grown, free-range and grass-fed, air-cooled poultry, grown from heirloom seeds or produced with respect for the land, animals, and workers. Regardless of the terminology, much of the food is produced without pesticides, antibiotics or growth hormones.

Sales from food produced using these principals have grown 20 percent per year over the past decade and now reach nearly $11 billion nationwide. Research shows that nearly half of consumers purchased organic foods within the past six months with fruits and vegetables heading up the largest category, but with an increasing large proportion coming from the dairy case. Meat and poultry also appear to have the next most potential because consumers are growing increasingly concerned about BSE, E coli and the presence of growth hormones and antibiotics in their meat.