Meat the Producers

Members of traditional community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs receive a box of organic, local fruits and vegetables each week in exchange for paying a share of the farm's expenses. Many CSA farms offer egg shares, too, and raw-milk devotees can purchase cow shares to get their hands on unpasteurized dairy. Taking the idea to a new extreme, a growing number of Northern California ranchers are now offering meat CSAs: Members receive a box of humanely raised, grass-fed meats for as low as $5 a pound, depending on selected cuts and subscription length.
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Even die-hard locavores have a hard time giving up coffee, but it's a pretty easy exception to rationalize. Our great-grandparents bought coffee imported from the opposite hemisphere; it's hardly a product of globalization. And with even the smallest shops stocking Fair Trade Certified beans, coffee is one of those products that's fairly benign. Want to go further? Choose your brew from one of the growing number of coffee roasters supporting the "beyond fair" ethical coffee movement. Direct Trade adherents collaborate with growers all along the cultivation, harvest, and aging timeline, offering farmers (not exporters) a premium above the fair-trade price. The end result, they claim, is an exceptionally delicious, ecologically sound product from some of the world's best "micro-terroirs" for coffee.
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Looking for a way to embrace sustainable eating, with a little help from your (virtual) friends? Consider joining a locavore challenge to give yourself an incentive to find new sources for locally grown foods. One Local Summer -- where each participant cooks a 100% locally sourced meal at least once a week -- officially kicks off on June 1, and winds down at the end of August. Registrations are closed for this summer, but be sure to check the regional roundups each weekend for a whole truckload of recipes and inspiration for your area, and for news about related autumn and winter challenges.
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Anita Crotty

On the Menu: Cherries
We cannot tell a lie: We adore cherries in nearly every way they're served. For out-of-hand munching our favorites are the sublime, pale-skinned Rainier cherries. Their fragile flesh makes them hard to transport commercially, so your best bet's to find them at local farmers markets. Deep-red, succulent Bing cherries are best for jam-making, or tucked into a custardy clafoutis. Petite sour cherry varieties like Montmorency make excellent cherry pies and top-notch candidates for preserving in brandy or other liqueur. Once you make your own cocktail cherries, you'll abandon the nuclear-red bottled ones for good.