Do you mind the extra hassel of buying fresh local foods?

I am really lucky that our local grocery store specializes in locally grown produce, and that there's a small farmer's market just a mile from our house. I haven't seen a source for local eggs, so I admit I buy them at the market. One of our goals for this year has been to cut way back on our meat and dairy consumption, and I'm happy that we're doing pretty well with that.

Well for starters, I absotively love the whole cooking experience. So definitely, I will go the extra mile for fresh produce and quality meats. And there's no place like the market! It's like Disneyland for me. So many things to discover, see, smell, and taste! I always look forward to the days I go to the market or to the farms. :-)

I could drive to one of the farmer's markets, but really I can get just as good at the grocery. I don't know anyone in the area selling eggs, never seen anyone advertizing it in my drives around the country side. And the one meat market I knew about closed about 5 years ago. Now the only ones I know are in other towns outside of mine. And Sam's has GREAT meats.

I love, just love good fresh produce. I don't care for half the stuff in the supermarkets around here and I especially don't care for the high prices. I truly cannot afford to buy tons of fresh. I buy fresh fruits when I can. I wish we had some farmers markets, but we are surrounded by dessert and you know how that goes. Stuff coming from California is good, but then again the costs of food here makes eating nothing but fresh expensive. I use a lot of bulk grains and beans to extend our menu.

I do not have problems getting fresh local or imported produce, and I don't actually have to go out of my way to buy them. They are usually available daily from both our wet markets as well as the dry markets (i.e. the supermarkets). There are many such markets around near where people live. The furthest I have to travel to get to one of these markets within the neighborhood is only 3 or 4 kilometres. So I enjoy both quality as well as convenience when buying fresh produce.

If I had the money and time to buy local, fresh produce, I definately would; it tastes better and is healthier. But it's cheaper and more convinient to go to the grocery store and buy things.

I definitely think fresh food tastes better and is better for you. I buy all my meat from a local butcher who gets his supplies from small local farmers. And I've recently started experimenting with growing vegetables in my backyard. The quality and taste of the food is so much better it's definitely worth the extra time and effort to me.

Quality should always be the first priority when buying for foods, they should all be fresh from where they came from. Here in my country, we can either plant or pick up on our backyards some of the foods we eat. For meat, they are always fresh and you can always tell the difference the one's that were recently butchered from those frozen ones. We have no problem in fish and other seafoods here, because we always get the fresh ones that came from fishing boats that went from yesterday's trip in the ocean. I think the only stuffs we buy that were not fresh, are those that are put into can and other chemically-preserved products..

Oh I would love to still be able to go to local markets for food items. I moved to this small town 14 years ago and one of the things I miss most about my hometown is the farmer's markets! One could get wonderful fresh beans, corn, tomatos and such at those markets...and much cheaper than in the stores too! I don't have that luxery now. I have only a WalMart superstore and one national chain grocery.

WhyWiki, I guess I am fortunate to live in a city that has a small home town feel, we have farmers markets right in town that local farmers bring their produce to for sale. We do not have to drive great lengths to gain fresh produce and eggs. Now our butcher is a little bit of a drive but not that inconvenient. It makes it nice, because like you I want to support, our local farmers as much as I can and when I can.

When I shop it's always about what I can afford to buy and where I can afford to shop. In the small town we live in a loaf of bread is 2.79 and when I go to the next city down ( 3/4 of an hour away ) I get a loaf of bread for 1.29, so that shows you the difference on one item. I appreciate my visits with the kids anyway and I shop on the times I'm going in to town, because our gas is about 6.00 a gallon now, so we're restricted there too.

For those living in the rural areas, fresh products like meat, eggs, vegetables and fruits are easy to get or purchased. But this is not the case in city living. In the city, especially if you have to go to supermarkets, the meat products are mostly frozen and had been in stock for several days. The same way with fruits and vegetables. This is what I miss in rural living when I was still in the province, the FRESH products (FRUITS, VEGETABLES AND MEAT). But now that I am living in the city, there's nothing I can do but to suffice myself to the products that I bought from supermarkets. Having a busy lifestyle in the city, driving back long miles to get fresh products is time consuming, expensive and is a burden. But of course, who wouldn't want fresh products...they are incomparable to the products that are bought in the supermarkets as to quality and freshness.

If I can get it locally I would but to be honest, I am in the middle of the woods so that even just getting to a store is a hassle and I will take whatever I can get at that point. I do grow my own veggies in the summer though and don't mind the hassle, I enjoy it.