What's Happening


Fresh on the Menu is a program launched in partnership with the SC Department of Agriculture.  A restaurant participating in Fresh on the Menu has committed to sourcing at least 25% of their menu from South Carolina growers and producers.  This can include produce, meats, seafood, dairy and grains.  Make sure you look for the logo when dining and ASK for LOCAL when eating!

Click Here to see a current listing of Fresh on the Menu restaurants. To find out how your farm or restaurant can get involved contact Elizabeth


LEARN ABOUT CSA's

For a information on what a CSA is and where to find one here in the Lowcountry please click here!

 

LEARN How to Cook with your CSA!

Charleston Cooks! is pairing up with local farmers throughout the season to teach how to cook with the contents of your CSA box.  Please click here for more info!

 


SPEACIAL THANKS
TO OUR FUNDERS!

Lowcountry Local First's Farm Fresh Food Guide has been released!
Thanks to the generous support of the Spaulding-Paolozzi Foundation and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture. 

LLF Farm Fresh

Our Sustainable Agriculture Initiative focuses on strengthening local farms and producers by creating partnerships with local restaurants, institutions, and the community. LLF along with the Coastal Conservation League envisions a strong regional food system incorporating a diversity of rural farms and a robust urban farming component that preserves ecosystems, reduces pollution, promotes social justice, provides education about the environment, and invigorates rural and urban economies. By bringing producers and consumers to the same table we are promoting a close connection between you and those in our community who grow and raise our food.

Growing New Farmers in the Lowcountry


Growing New Farmers in the Lowcountry of SC from OPP on Vimeo. GiveGround.TV is a project of Organic Process Productions (OPP). OPP has been producing award winning documentary films, books and event tours since 2005. In 2009 They became involved in local agriculture and farming.  As a mash-up of their media storytelling work and involvement in local farming GiveGround.TV is a new kind of video network.


Click for Local CSA Information 

Please click here for Seasonal CSA Information
Click here for a map of local Farms and CSAs

 

A Busy 2010 ahead for Sustainable
Agriculture in the Lowcountry

Though we all face challenging economic times, it is more important then ever to support our local growers by eating fresh food grown close to home.   To help this process LLF is working to create new farming opportunities throughout the lowcountry as well as strengthening our existing markets for these farm products and forming new ones. 

Our upcoming programs include:

  • Creating an online market to address a variety of infrastructure and marketing opportunities related to easing the farm to chef relationship
  • Reaching out to underserved communities to bring in more local food
  • Continuing our outreach for "Fresh on the Menu"
  • Publish the second edition of the Farm Fresh Food Guide
  • Launching a variety of education opportunites for all members of our food system


Can we reconnect our family traditions with our agricultural heritage to create a more meaningful connection with the land, our food, and those who produce it? Should we? The answer to both is yes!


Top 10 Reasons to Eat Local throughout 2010!

  1. Support your local farmers – shop the farmers markets this holiday season and look and ASK for local produce at the grocers. Most conventional food travels an average of 1,500 miles before it hits the plate!
  2. Local is FRESHER and TASTIER – there is an abundance of great local produce in the Fall: collards, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, winter squash, spinach, beets and of course pumpkin just to name a few!
  3. Eating Locally is Better for the Environment – lower your carbon foot print by eating locally. An Iowa State University study found that people who switched to buying 10% of their produce from local sources produced 5-17 times less CO2 overall than if they'd bought non-local produce.
  4. Support the Local Economy – keep money circulating in our community
  5. Supports Sustainable Land Use – supporting local farms keeps our land productive as farms and not houses!
  6. Eating Seasonally is Better for your Health!
  7. Free Range and Pastured Meat tastes better – See our in print and online Directory of Local Business to find some great local meat producers
  8. It’s our heritage and how our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents ate!
  9. Makes for great dinner conversation!
  10. A chance to stop and be Thankful for the EARTH that our food comes from, the RAIN and the SUN that help it grow, and the FARMER who plants the seeds and nurtures the crop.

Check out the websites of ECO, or Sustainable Table for great recipes using local ingredients!

 

To find more information and resources on Sustainable Agriculture and our Partner Organizations throughout the southeast please click here!


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