10 Ways For Kids To Go Local

Here are 10 tips for getting children interested in local foods during summer and fall:

1. Take your family on a farm tour.
   Encourage your kids to take pictures and make a photo book or poster about the farm to share with friends and classmates during show-and-tell or a similar time. (Willy Street Co-op offers Farm Tours at least once per year.)
2. Let your kids play with their food.
   Make an art project out of local foods, such as seed art or veggie sculptures. You can buy a small amount of a variety of different beans, seeds and nuts in the Willy Street Co-op bulk foods aisle.
3. Start an indoor herb garden.
   Although it’s late in the season for most types of planting, you and your child can start an indoor herb garden. When the herbs grow, let your child harvest some to include as part of your lunch or dinner.
4. Encourage your child to pick out an item at a farmers market or co-op;
   then prepare a meal with them using their chosen local food.
5. Make freezer jam out of their favorite berries.
   By making freezer jam, kids can learn about food preservation and enjoy their favorite fruit into the fall season. There’s always room for jam!
6. Make homemade ice cream
   featuring locally sourced milk, cream, fruit and nuts.
7. Throw a local food pizza party.
   Devote a Saturday afternoon to baking a pizza with as many local foods as possible. Let your kids roll the dough while you chop and shred local ingredients that they can sprinkle on top.
8. Sip cider and jump in the hay at the local orchard.
   Pick apples with your kids and talk about the year-long work it takes to produce an array of apples. REAP Food Group’s Farm Fresh Atlas has a great list of U-Pick farms.
9. Pick the perfect pumpkin for Halloween.
   Take your kids to a local pumpkin patch to enjoy the festivities. Then, bring home an extra pumpkin and make a holiday pie, and don’t forget to roast the seeds.
10. Prepare a meal based on your heritage.
    Were your grandparents farmers? Prepare a meal based on the food they once grew. Is your ancestry Italian? German? West African? Make a meal based on their native foods with as many local ingredients as possible. Share stories about your family over the dinner table.

You may also want to sign up for our Eat Local Challenge. Even if you don't, we offer information and ideas about how to make more of the foods you eat local.