A Community Effort
Welcome to the Arkansas Fresh Directory! We are excited to release an online directory to help you explore the many ways you can connect with local food in Arkansas. Explore the maps below to see what's going on around you, and find a way to engage that fits you. Local food is for everyone.
This directory has been made possible by the Arkansas Local Food Network, the USDA Farmers Market Promotion Program grant, and the Arkansas Community Foundation.
To learn more about The Locals Food Hub click here
We Need You
This collaboration represents a broadening effort to engage you, the community of consumers and creators, in the process of keeping this information up to date. We have done our best to make it easy for your to report missing or incorrect information. Together we can build a living resource to tell the story of our growing locavore economy. Let's face it - the dots on this map don't exist without the eaters, so help spread the word about local food by passing this resource along. Keep it fresh: ADD AN ENTRY or UPDATE AN ENTRY by emailing [email protected]
The How & Why of Local Food
Fresh Interactive
The map is a great tool for finding places, but not every entry in the directory has a physical address. Use the complete listing to explore all the great people, organizations, and places in the food directory. Including the many non-profits who exist without an exact spot on the map.
Read on for the interactive directory.
How You Participate in Local Food
If you aren't familiar with the local food movement, you may not have thought about all the ways you can connect with local food. With every type of engagement is a unique benefit to your health, food security and our local economy. These are real dollars that stay and circulate in your community.
Farmer's Markets
The first thing many people think about when they think local food is the farmers market. We all love the atmosphere and the opportunity to connect directly to the source of our food, the farmers. Generally held outdoors these markets are a perfect way to interact with a neighborhood and the agricultural heritage of our region at the same time.
While some of our traditional farmer's markets are seasonal their modern cousin, the online farmer's market, provides that same connection year round. Traditional markets are a beautiful site and experience, but online markets have a few of their own advantages. Customers of online markets find it convenient to create an entire order from multiple farmers, pick it up at a convenient time and location all at once and pay in one transaction for those goods. Farmer's benefit from a relatively flexible drop-off schedule and not having to be physically present to direct market their products to their customers.
Both market styles have their perks, and customers can enjoy the fact that both facilitate a more direct and transparent relationship with food than the grocery store.
Farms/On-Farm Retail Markets
Not surprisingly, farmers spend most of their time on their farms, some of which, are located outside urban areas and in more rural communities. On-farm retail markets allow farmers to reach more customers without having to add the additional overhead costs associated with conventional retail markets. On-farm markets usually serve customers that live nearby, some that are just passing by, or others who have scheduled visits to the farm. The biggest advantages of an on-farm market is that they usually have very flexible schedules, they do not require extra staff to operate, and they lower the barrier between farmers and consumers. Farmers can control when these markets are open and staff them as needed.
On-Farm retail markets increase access to local food in the communities where the farm is located, and can help support other nearby farmers by selling products grown or made by other farmers. These additional sales not only help support other farmers, but also serve as an additional incentive for people to stop by and be able to purchase a variety of local products in one place.
A big part of becoming a successful local farmer is to develop strong relationships with their customer base. Farm tours are a great way for farmers to bring people closer to the food they consume and the story behind it. On-Farm retail markets are great places for farmers to display and feature their products. You...
Showing 1 reaction