Eat Local For The Holidays Preview


The Eat Local For The Holidays campaign is an effort by the Greater Kansas City Food Policy Coalition to encourage people to choose at least one item in their holiday meal from a local source.

This year’s theme is Deliciously Simple.
Reasons for eating local food include keeping your food dollars in the local economy, reducing your carbon footprint, increasing the freshness of the foods people eat and because local foods taste great.
The campaign includes an opportunity to pledge to serve at least one locally-grown food in holiday celebrations.  The website www.eatlocalkc.net includes a sign-up for the pledge, reasons why it is important to eat local, what food is fresh in Kansas and Missouri right now, a list of farmer’s markets open during this time of year, restaurants serving local food, local food recipes and how to get involved in creating a healthy local food system.
Last year more than 300 people took the pledge and the GKCFPC is looking to double that number in 2012.  Those who take the pledge are entered in a drawing for local food prizes.  

 Among activities promoting Eat Local For the Holidays are:

-       Eat Local Pledge

-       Blue Bird Restaurant’s Dine With A Farmer Night.

-       Chef demonstrations at farmer’s markets and class extensions.

-       Youth preparing healthy Halloween meals.

-       Farmer’s markets open in the fall.

Members of the GKCFPC, which includes individuals, organizations, businesses and government representatives representing all critical components of our local food system, will be available to talk to media.  So will local farmers, etc…
More information will come in October, but if you have early interest in learning about this campaign, please do not hesitate to contact me at mstrauss@kchealthykids.org or (816) 728-9141, or look at our websites at www.eatlocalkc.net or www.kcfoodpolicy.org.

 The Greater Kansas City Food Policy Coalition

The Greater Kansas City Food Policy Coalition (GKCFPC) advocates for a strong local food system that provides healthy, sustainable and accessible foods for everyone living in Greater Kansas City. We want the food that our families, our children, and our neighbors eat to be the best for our bodies, our environment, and our local community.

 Eat Local Fact Sheet

“You are what you eat” is a fact.  Research shows that diets high in fruits, vegetables, fiber and grains are associated with lower risks of heart disease and many types of cancer. 

Healthy food choices play a significant role in obesity prevention and treatment.  Kansas and Missouri unfortunately have obesity rates around 30 percent of the population.

A strong local food system keeps revenue in our community.

Produce in the average U.S. grocery store travels nearly 1,500 miles from the farm where it was grown.

Eating local means we are less affected by large-scale food recalls of contaminated goods that are processed in consolidated facilities and shipped throughout the country.

Local foods are a more sustainable and environmentally friendly solution to shipping in food from long distances.

A strong local food system keeps revenue in our community and provides opportunities for small and mid-sized agribusiness to develop and expand.

Having a strong source of local and regional foods makes our region more self-sufficient and more insulated from food safety issues involving global and national food sources.

Local farms can produce regional and cultural foods that are important to our heritage.
Local food is fresher and tastes better

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