Small farms, farmers markets, CSAs and the local food economies that connect growers with their neighbors.
Hospitals, campus dining halls and senior meal programs buy food every week on a planned menu. Here is how they purchase, which state incentive laws push them toward local farms, what a kitchen needs from you, and how to land the first account.
Early March is when a small town decides whether it will have a farmers market by June. Here is the organizer's list: legal structure, the site agreement, insurance, vendor rules and fees, permits, the manager's job, SNAP, grants and a first-season budget.
Wheat is the last big gap in most local food systems. How small farms grow bread grain, clean and store it, mill it on stones, keep bakers happy and plug into the regional grain alliances, plus the buyer that vanished this spring.
Jam season raises the question every farm kitchen asks: can we sell this? A plain guide to cottage food laws: what you may make at home, the sales caps, the label every state checks, where you may sell, and what the 2025 sessions changed.
Late February is CSA sign-up season and the time to plan the other direct channel, the roadside stand: siting and sight lines, signs and the law behind them, zoning, honor boxes versus staffed hours, pricing by weight, payment apps and products that carry the year.
Chefs say the same things in every extension survey: consistent quality, a reliable weekly list and deliveries that show up. Here is how a small farm meets those three, prices fairly, invoices properly and stays on the menu through a slow winter.
Strawberry season opens the u-pick year, and the new Census of Agriculture shows why farms keep adding visitors. What fits a working farm, parking and restrooms, pricing, what the insurance rider covers, and what state agritourism liability laws actually do.
A food hub pools the harvest of many small farms and sells it wholesale. Here is what a hub actually does, how the three fee models pay, what your farm must deliver to join, and how to tell a hub that will last.
October is National Farm to School Month. Here is how a small farm actually gets a purchase order from a school district: who buys, the bid thresholds, the geographic preference rule, product forms a cafeteria can use, the paperwork, and what volume to expect.
Memorial Day weekend opens the market season across much of the country. Here is how a first-year vendor builds a stall that sells: display height, honest price signs, anchors and impulse buys, sampling and scale rules, cards and SNAP, and the mistakes to skip.
Localism is a term that has gained traction in recent years, particularly in agriculture. It refers to prioritizing local communities and economies, supporting local interests and local custom while encouraging the production and consumption...
No-tillage farming is a method of farming that has been gaining attention in recent years as a potential solution to many of the environmental and economic challenges faced by traditional farming methods. This farming technique involves...
