Many of your favorite foods are likely to be grown locally. Have you ever wondered what happens to your locally grown produce; where does it end up, who buys it, can you buy it, what are the benefits? Utah State University has a student run organic farm where students grow organic produce that is sold through their Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. CSA programs are in place to allow local farmers to reach the community while also providing fresh produce to consumers.
Kynda Curtis, Ruby Ward and Karin Allen, professors at USU, did a study to discover how available local produce effected the eating habits of consumers. They released information from their study that 92.8 percent of the consumers who replied reported that their overall nutrition intake improved as a result of the CSA program. This helps to show how important it can be to have access to fresh produce supplied by local farmers. It also shows us that you can operate a small farm and still sell your crops and make a profit to keep your operation floating.
It is important that we take any chance that we can to support local agriculture by finding local CSA programs or farmers markets. You can usually find them online by searching Local Community Supported Agriculture Programs or Local Farmers Markets.
For information about the Cache Valley’s Farmers Market, visit http://gardenersmarket.org/.
Agriculture in Utah 
It’s interesting to me, but also makes sense that the eating habits of people with access to local produce would tend to eat more of that produce. I also like the fact that I can now find my local farmer’s markets and start supporting local businesses.
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