Philadelphia is fortunate to have a number of organizations that work to support the local foodshed, connect farmers with restaurants and shoppers, and generally spread the work about the amazing food that is being grown, raised, and produced through the region.
One such organization is Fair Food. In addition to running a very visible Farmstand in Reading Terminal Market, they do an amazing job of connecting producers with restaurants and institutions who want to use local food in their kitchens.
Each year, Fair Food throws a grand fundraiser called The Brewer’s Plate, in which they bring together nearly fifty area restaurants, brewers, cheesemakers, and bakers for an orgiastic evening of tasting and sipping. This year’s event is coming up on Sunday, March 10 and runs from 5:30-9 pm at the National Constitution Center. General admission is $70 a head and VIP tickets are $140 (it gets you early admission and access to an extra, less crowded area).
Fair Food has given me a pair of general admission tickets (a $140 value!) to give away for this year’s Brewer’s Plate (sadly, transportation to Philadelphia is not included). If you can get yourself to Philly on March 10 and want a chance to win the tickets, here’s what you do:
The winner is commenter #69, Michele G., from RowHouse Livin’.
- Leave a comment on this post and share a reason why you like to eat locally grown/raised/products foods when you can.
- Comments will close at 12 noon on Monday, March 7. The winner will be posted promptly to the blog.
- Giveaway open to anyone who can get to Philadelphia on March 10.
- One comment per person, please. Entries must be left via the comment form on the blog at the bottom of this post.
Disclosure: Fair Food gave me a pair of tickets for giveaway, as well as an additional pair that I can use. However, my opinions are my own and uninfluenced by these tickets. No cash changed hands.
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I love to eat PA local because I want to preserve the beautiful and unique rural culture of Pennsylvania for my children & grandchildren.
I like to support local farmers and local businesses, so I eat at restaurants that support local farms and businesses whenever I can. You know the food you’re eating is always fresh and local!
I’ve been waffling over whether or not I’ll buy a ticket, but I’ve kept that day mostly free anyway. (Then again, I could do my taxes that day)
It’s gotten so that the main reason I’m buying local is because I’ve met the people growing my food, and I want them to succeed.
This would be an amazing opportunity, especially since we’ve never been.
Eating locally gives me a real sense of pride about where I live, and I think that’s great. I like supporting small, passionate businesses, and of course I love growing and making my own food!
I love supporting local farmers and artisans because I like to support the local economy and have a better idea of where my food comes from.
I like to buy and eat locally when I can because my family owns a small organic pecan farm and our livelihood has come from people who value good, sustainable, local food. So I get to eat good food, know the people who produced it and pay it forward!
I buy local food to support my local farmers – there is simply no reason to transport food across the country or around the world when a similar (and often BETTER) product is available locally.
I love to support local farms and buy local food because I love hearing about where food came from from the people who grew it. They have an unmatched passion for what they make and grow. Sharing in this conversation keeps us connected to our food and makes me appreciate it all the more!
For me it’s a combination of taste and health.
I like to source my food locally for a variety of reasons, most prominent being the food os fresher, and the means it is produced easy to dicover.
How did I not know about this event? Thanks for posting it!
We eat locally as much as possible. We belong to a CSA and shop at the local coop. We love to support local farms and businesses. It is important to support your local community plus the food tastes so much better.
I like to know that I am supporting my neighbors when I buy their food. That, and I feel like I am reducing my carbon footprint when my food isn’t hauled across the country to reach my plate.
I like to support the local economy. Importantly, locally produced food just tastes fresher.
I went to a vigil tonight, and was reminded once again of the support to be found in our small town. As I looked out at all the mourners, I was proud to have invested in so many lives as a neighbor, teacher, and also consumer. Eating local preserves great communities like mine.
We like to know where our food comes from and support our local economy. Sounds like an awesome event!
Mostly I like to eat locally/seasonally just because it tastes better. But I also like supporting small local farms and producers. The money means more to the farmers than it does to Del Monte.
I love knowing where my food is coming from & being able to go out & see where if I want…..supporting the local farmers & not giving my money to the big guys who don’t care about anything more than my money!
I like knowing the people I’m buying from. They always make you feel like a VIP when they know who you are and what you like and what you expect. The fact that helps the local economy is also a plus.
The closest food is picked/made more recently and tastes better!
I try to eat locally because I know the food is fresher and it has a much smaller carbon footprint when it hasn’t been hauled around the world.
I love eating locally through my CSA because it’s a great opportunity to meet the people growing the food my family eats.
I like knowing where my money is going and what’s going into my body. There’s something special about supporting local farmers who raise your food with you in mind rather than just heading to the grocery store.
I like to buy locally because I am lucky enough to live in a community that still has farms and farmers in it, so it is nice to give my purchasing power to a friend in the community rather than someone I don’t know. I am also amazed by the freshness of locally grown products. Sometimes they may cost a bit more, but they actually last so much longer, so I rarely throw anything away because I haven’t cooked it or used it fast enough.
I like to eat local for a variety of reasons. Taste and supporting local farmers/producers of food are obvious. I’m also trying to minimize my footprint by minimizing the fuel needed to transport the food to me.
I eat locally because I get to know my farmers and support the local economy. By getting to know our farmers, we know what goes into the food we eat and get an understanding of how the animals are raised. Farmers are much more informational and often more truthful/clear of how the animals live. My husband and I own a pastured poultry farm, and what started as a hobby has bloomed into a full time farm because we could see and taste the difference between the food we grew ourselves and what we used to buy at the grocery store. As far as the produce we eat, its well known that freshly harvested produce is far more nutritional than food grown across the country and shipped out. There are so many reasons we should eat locally, and that was just a few
I like to eat local because the food tastes better. Sure you can only have strawberries part of the year, but they taste 100 times better than the off season ones!
I like eating locally because I like supporting my local economy and local craftsmen
Tastes better! The veggies I get from my CSA are a thousand times tastier than anything in a grocery store.
You can taste the incredible difference between a tomato flown in from halfway aacross the country and your own backyard. Not to mention, I love knowing my money is supporting small businesses and fair wages.
We joined a local CSA (Eckerton Hill Farm) this year and have fun utilizing all of the amazing produce in our weekly share.
Eating fresh, local, and seasonally produced products is critically important in sustaining local economies, environments, and, ultimately, the health of that locality. When you consume fresh, local, and sustainably produced products, you support local growers/producers and stimulate not only their immediate economy, but you support them in remaining in the area, running their business, and thus supporting others to whom they pay rent, but other ingredients, etc. Consumption of these goods also cuts down on waste in a substantial way, considerably reducing the carbon footprint of production and transportation. Fresh, local, sustainable products combat GMO and result in a reduction in the need to prepare crops and products for longer shelf lives, travel, etc. Fresh/local/sustainable is important in ensuring that consumers get the biggest nutritional bang for their buck – since produce begins losing nutrients when picked, the best way to make sure that you are getting the most complete representation of a product’s nutritional profile is to consume it as close to harvest as possible. Seasonal, fresh, local, and sustainably produced products also yield greater flavor than mass produced and out of season produce and food products. Not only is fresh, local, sustainable, and seasonal better tasting, its a choice you can feel good about. By consuming and supporting fresh, local, seasonal, and sustainable products, we are not only saying that our bodies and families are important, we are building community and recognizing the love, pride, and effort that goes into each and every bite. We are consuming love and in turn showing our love through our support of what small local producers give us everyday. Buying locally produced XYZ may seem like a small choice at times, but its a small choice that, in fact, impacts the global community in a vast and meaningful way.
Because we want to eat healthy foods, we buy locally grown when possible. We have established friendships and relationships with neighbors that are mutually beneficial.
I love visiting the amish lady who has a wealth of information about so many things!
I like to eat and buy locally because I grew up raising livestock on a little farm less than 20 miles from center city. I appreciate the work that goes into raising healthy food, and I enjoy knowing where most of my food came from.
I like eating local foods because they’re fresher, and it’s fun to be able to see the places where your foods come from!
Living in Southern California, I know how far the farmers must travel to provide us with the opportunity to purchase their produce. I appreciate and want to encourage them to continue to come to our area, so I feel it is of the utmost importance to be a regular customer. In our dense area, it is important for consumers not to take for granted where food derives from.
I want my local neighbors to succeed and I believe it is the best nutritionally! Plus local just tastes better!
I like to eat and buy locally for a few reasons; hands down number one is taste; its a bonus to meet and support cool artisans, while being able to learn and know how things were grown and produced.
Eating locally exposed me to a whole new world of wonderful foods. Before I moved to Philly, I had never eaten mushrooms, let alone ramps, pawpaws, watermelon radishes and my favorite, South Philly figs. Buying food from people you can get to know knits you into a community that encourages stewardship of land, concern for neighbors, and adventures in eating.
I love eating locally grown seasonal organic foods for a few main reasons. The first is the superior taste, quality, and of course for the support of the local farmers. The second is because I think that our current global economy will eventually be unable to support itself. If as communities we can shop and eat locally there will be an infrastructure in place that will sustain us as the global economy recesses. Lastly, I am an artist and I think that taking the care to raise produce (and cheese and beer!!) in a small setting is an important artform to cherish and save. What a great event to both support and raise awareness for local economies! Thanks!!
Local food tastes better! Plus, I want local farmers to succeed.
I love to eat locally grown food because it’s fresher, better tasting, and better for the environment. Used to do my food shopping at Reading Terminal when I lived in Philly. Now, I’m a train ride away in NJ.
I eat locally grown/raised products b/c it’s simply the best food around! Duh.
I buy locally grown food mainly because I love food and want to enjoy every aspect of it. Beyond that, I love how buying local can strengthen communities and economies. And you can’t beat the excitement of going to pick peas and strawberries after a long, cold winter!
I eat local because I love supporting local businesses; the food is more sustainable; and dammit it just tastes better!
The food just tastes better. And it is nice to know and support your neighbors.
I try to eat locally because it’s better for our health and the environment. If I have a question about my food I like being able to ask the person who grew/raised it.
This sounds awesome. I eat local to help keep my foot print small.
I like to eat organic and local because I grew up growing my own food and I’ve spent time on a few farms since then.
Thanks for doing this giveaway Marisa. I love to eat local because I know that it tastes fresh and get to meet the farmers that grow the food. I go to farmer’s markets in NJ (near my house) and prefer organic. I also like to eat in season and keeps the price down.