Eat Local For The Holidays Promotion

KANSAS CITY – With the holiday season approaching, opportunities abound for celebrating with healthy, locally-grown food, supporting your health and your community.  The Greater Kansas City Food Policy Coalition is encouraging people to choose at least one item in their holiday meal from a local source.

“The Eat Local For The Holidays campaign is a way for area residents to connect with locally produced food, support regional farmers and enjoy a wide variety of delicious, local, seasonal foods in new recipes or in family favorites“ said Beth Low, director of the GKCFPC.

Among the foods that are fresh now in Kansas and Missouri are apples, pears, broccoli, carrots, peas, pumpkins, spinach and sweet potatoes among many others.  Wine and cider are also being produced locally, along with many meats such as beef, pork and poultry.

“Eating local foods keeps your food dollars in the local economy, reduces your carbon footprint and increases the freshness of the foods you are eating,” Low said.  “It is good for your body, the environment and the local economy.  It also tastes great.”

There are a number of ways to access local foods, through farmer’s markets, grocery and healthy food stores and Kansas City area restaurants.  Directories of a number of these outlets providing local foods are available at the Eat Local For the Holidays website at www.eatlocalkc.net.

The website also includes an opportunity to pledge to serve at least one locally grown food in holiday celebrations during the season, reasons why it is important to eat local, what food is fresh in Kansas and Missouri right now, local food recipes, and how to get involved in creating a healthy local food system.

Those who sign up to take the pledge at www.eatlocalkc.net are entered in a drawing for local food prizes.