I was recently reminded … twice actually and from two different people … that I sometimes take for granted that my audience is as familiar with and passionate about local food as I am.

And many of our readers are! Part of what we aim to do here is to make people who are involved in local sustainable food know that they are supported and that a vibrant community of like-minded people exists.

But the other aspect of what we aim to do with our content is to inform and inspire! And I think I’ve been falling down a bit with informing.

So, I’ll be doing a “Small Steps Sunday” blog that will focus on bringing general information on local food - what makes it important, how to find it, how to move from consumer to producer even just on a very small scale. And I’ll also go into more about what it means to be sustainable and why it matters.

I hope this series will help you not only understand local sustainable food better, but will also help you tackle the daunting prospect of changing your food shopping habits.

As the Chinese proverb says, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!”

Let’s get started!

Participating in your local food system is incredibly important! For some really great reasons to shop locally, check out this article written by husband and wife team, Patrick and Elizabeth Holladay. 

But ditching the grocery store entirely is not only an intimidating process, it’s also impractical for many of us living in Southeast Georgia. Access is still very much an issue when it comes to local food.

But there’s no need to be intimidated. And you don’t have to throw your hands in the air in despair just because access is limited.

Pick one thing.

Pick whichever thing is simplest for you. Or whichever thing is most important to you.

For me, it was meat.

Many years ago, when I first took my own first step toward local food, I did a quick web search on Confined Animal Feeding Operations. It took about five minutes to shock me to my core. And I barely even scratched the surface of understanding the atrocities that are committed on a minute by minute basis here in America in the name of “food production”. 

For me, it was simple and it was immediate. I had to stop eating meat that came from that system. 

I was left two options: become a vegetarian or find another source of meat.

I did research and found farms in my area that were raising animals for meat in a way that aligned with my values. Sourcing local meat became my first step and remains my priority - if budget or access makes me choose.

So, I based my first step on values. But your first step could be based on any number of reasons.

You could choose to support one local farm and buy the products that they have available because they are your neighbors. Make that your first step.

Source your honey or eggs from the hobby farm down the road.

Or your first step could be to shop at your local farmers’ market (if you’re lucky enough to have one) once a week, month, or season.

No matter where you live, someone near you is growing/producing/selling something that you could begin to source locally instead of buying it at the grocery store.

And you can’t get more local than growing something for yourself! Make your first step growing a few herbs in pots or plant a fruit tree in your yard! It also doesn’t get more local than your own kitchen - learn to bake bread or make jam!

Pick one product, or one local source, or one way that you can become a producer instead of just a customer.

That one small step WILL make a difference! And you will be surprised by how it inspires you to continue your journey!

I would love to hear from you! If this inspires you to take a first step, please drop a line and let us know what that step was. Or if you’ve been on this journey for a while, reflect back, what was your first step that started it all?