I really have no choice, but I would probably support my local farmer’s market if I lived in a city on the mainland. I like the idea of it. There is an economic theory that spending your money locally gets spent three times. I like that, and I like fresh food.
I grow my own fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices. My hens produce more eggs than I need. Mutton and goat for milk and meat are produced here on the property. I make my own cheese and grow my own mushrooms. I get shellfish such as crab, lobster and conch by simply snorkeling on an afternoon. I can fish in the bays, in the surf, or off the shore for other fish. My surplus is traded for labor, or in town for flour and imported goods such as maple syrup and personal hygiene supplies—things not produced here. I’ve not spent hard currency on food, except for the animals, since my arrival here, Oh, except to have a case of kielbasa and Nebraska porterhouse steaks flown in—unnecessary luxuries. Beef products and grains, except rice, are not normally produced in the Windward Islands and are therefore extremely expensive. It is cheaper to have beef products flown in directly in bulk quantity from the producer.
This labor consists of about 20 hours per week. If I were a home-husband, this is exactly what I would be doing, besides organizing local fresh farm markets in towns around me the other 20 hours a week, or so. There are a lot of pdfs on the net from universities on how to organize your own farmer’s markets.
I don’t believe restaurants, especially those in the U.S., that claim they get all their provisions locally. “Local” usually means that they get their products within 350 miles of the restaurant, or within a radius of about one day’s travel. Investigations by various food critics over the years have proven this false to the 90% percentile in my former home county in Florida. Chefs have admitted that it is nearly impossible to do this and can only justify the prices they charge if they claim local. A Florida provender who runs a low-stress, organic, sustainable pig farm has sued Florida restaurants time and again for advertizing that they use his product when they don’t. He produces very expensive, lean, high quality pork at great extra cost to himself.