Find Local Foods through Food Buying Clubs

Food-buying clubs that source foods from local farmers are a great way to go local. Food-buying clubs are groups of people who pool their financial resources to purchase bulk foods at wholesale prices. Groups typically form around shared interests in particular types of food, such as local meats or organic produce.

A buying club can be as small as five people or as large as 100. The clubs are supported through membership fees and/or volunteer hours support group coordination and food distribution. Members have the opportunity to choose from a list of products and pick up their orders at regular distribution sites.

A few food-buying clubs focused on local foods have emerged in North Carolina, including the Charlotte-based Know Your Farms and the Raleigh-based Triangle Meat Buying Club, which facilitates group ordering of local fish, cheese and pasture-raised meat and poultry.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that North Carolinians spend $350 billion on food. If North Carolinians spent just 10 percent of their food dollars on local foods every year, it would be worth $3.5 billion in the local economy, part of which would flow back to farmers and food businesses.

Many web-based resources can help you find local food markets near your home. These are a few that may benefit North Carolina consumers.

Websites

Start your own meat-buying club: This brochure from NC Choices tells you how.

N.C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services' Farm Fresh: Allows consumers to find markets sorted by name or by county.

LocalHarvest: Allows consumers to find markets, and other local food resources, by entering a city or ZIP code.

Food Routes: Allows consumers to sort by ZIP code or city.

Carolina Farm Stewardship Association: Helps consumers search for local food resources in North Carolina by name, city or ZIP.

Regional partners

These websites link consumers to local food resources for a given region of the state.

Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project: Focuses on western North Carolina counties, but has a great product finder tool.

Foothills Fresh: Six-county program in southwestern North Carolina, featuring farmers' markets, products, pick-your-own operations and agritourism.

Feast on the Southeast: Eight-county program in southeastern North Carolina, promoting local food resources through county-specific pages and a farm-to-chef guide.