July 9, 2021
Locally grown food creates important economic opportunities, provides health benefits and helps to reduce environmental impact. It also helps bring the community together and gives people the opportunity to make a difference. Additionally, many people feel local food tastes better and lasts longer. Some of the ways you can access and participate to help make a difference include:
Tahoe Food Hub
Slow Food Tahoe
Farmers Markets
Community Soup Night
Compost Collection Sites
The direct benefit of a local food system is the connection it makes between farmer and consumer. Tahoe Food Hub leverages the funds raised from our Farm to Market program to support our community outreach efforts. They go beyond the traditional market to educate our community and lend a hand to those in need. When people know where their food comes from, they better understand the social, economic and environmental health benefits of a local food system.
Tucked inside a warehouse at the Truckee Tahoe Airport is the Food Hub’s Farm Shop boutique market, selling all kinds of sustainably-grown food from more than 50 local farms. In-season fruit and vegetables, meat, cheese, bread, eggs, baked goods, dry pantry items and specialty products are available for purchase.
Tahoe Food Hub only works with diversified family farms, ranches and specialty food purveyors – places who’ve applied, been vetted and approved for sustainable farming and sourcing methods, regenerative agricultural practices and pasture-finished animals. Doing your grocery run at the Farm Shop will give you ingredients from small growers like 24 Carrot Farm out of Placerville, Hillview Farms in Auburn, or Soil Sisters in Nevada City, to name a few.
They carry local and sustainably sourced:
Items are constantly changing with the seasons. Not sure what to do with a certain product? The Food Hub staff can recommend a recipe or preparation method for everything they carry.
Planning weekly meals using quality, sustainable ingredients is easier than ever with their online farmers market, Harvest to Order. Anyone can sign up for the program online without any recurring charges or monthly subscription obligations. After signing up, the Farm Shop sends an email with everything available fresh that week – and we’re talking everything: produce, meats, dairy, baked goods, sauces, coffee, pantry staples – the works.
Items are available for purchase by-the-each or by-the-pound, just like at the farmers market, so you decide how much food to buy and how much money to spend.
Ordering online is easy. The Farm Shop emails a list of the food and products available that week.
For those looking for regular, seasonal ingredients who don’t want to select each item on their own, a Harvest box option is also available each week at a set price for small or large boxes. Harvest boxes are filled with items from the same weekly in-season list and are hand-selected by the Food Hub staff.
Just when you think it can’t get better, it does. Harvest to Order also makes it possible to support a family in your community and feed your neighbor. Unlike other food donation programs, purchasing a Giving Box for just $20 to give a local family first-quality produce and food, free of charge. Their Giving Box program compliments other food pantry programs to ensure people in need are receiving enough fresh fruits and vegetables. They partner with Tahoe Truckee Unified School District (TTUSD) to supply produce to families in their Food Pantry Program and work with families directly who sign-up online through Tahoe Food Hub..
Slow Food Lake Tahoe’s mission is to connect our community to the enjoyment of good, clean and fair food by inspiring a self-reliant food culture. They educate the community about growing, preparing and accessing local and sustainable food. Good, clean and fair food for all. Here are a few things their goals include:
The Truckee Community Garden grows produce that is donated to help our community, offer workshops providing high-altitude gardening techniques, and volunteer opportunities.
Want to get involved? Building and maintaining a Community Garden is lots of work. If you want to help make a difference for sustainable, locally grown produce there are a number of ways:
Where is the Community Garden: The garden is tucked behind the baseball field in the Truckee River Regional Park, 10500 Brockway Road. From Brockway Road, turn onto Estates Drive (at the Skate Park) and head straight into the park entrance (rather than following the road to the right). Park there and follow the dirt path that leads towards the “Music in the Park” venue.
