I’m always taken aback at the starkness of supermarkets. You walk in and the bright lights reflecting off white floors and rows and rows of food neatly stacked in plastic wrappers and shiny boxes are almost blinding. The shelves seem never ending and the food doesn’t resemble any of the ingredients that they are made of.

It’s a real contrast to a farmers’ market where there are baskets and boxes stacked up with raw foods tossed in them in no certain order. Unprocessed products, bright in color and texture are scattered around and you can touch them, smell them, ask the producer (the farmer) how they were grown, and even how to cook it. The only packaging you’ll find is a few rubber bands wrapped around a bundle of kale, or a glass jar filled with milk.

As the temperature hovers closer to the freezing point, it’s harder and harder to get really fresh food, but more and more shoppers are choosing local over industrial food and farmers are responding to the demand. Thanks to Seacoast Eat Local we can enjoy farmers’ markets 2-3 times a month. Farmers are offering winter CSAs (community supported agriculture) and local grocery stores are stocking up  on locally raised meat, cheese, yogurt and eggs.

The Seacoast Eat Local Winter Farmers’ Market are offered in Exeter and Rollingsford host more than 50 vendors selling everything from milk and bread to locally made sausages, spaghetti sauce, and soup. The next market is December 17 in Rollingsord at the Wentworth Greenhouses.  For a complete list of Seacoast Eat Local dates click here. For a list of other markets in New Hampshire and just over the border in Maine and Massachusetts click here.

Here are some CSAs you can join to ensure fresh food all winter long:
Meadows Mirth Farm, Stratham, NH: Farmers Josh and Jean offer a “Flexible Choice System” which gives CSA members 10% off their regular market price if you buy an annual share of $400. Throughout the year you get $440 worth of produce  and can add to your account at any time throughout the season. You can pick up at the farmers markets (Exeter, York, Portsmouth, Rollingsford).  They offer lots of root vegetables, kale, potatoes, garlic and more.

Wild Miller Gardens, Lee, NH– Similar to Meadow’s Mirth Farm, Wild Miller’s (no relation!) offers a credit system where you pay an upfront fee of $300 and then you receive a total of $330 credit at any of the farmers’ markets where they sell, or on their farm at your convenience.  They offer produce, meat, dairy, eggs and maple syrup.

Wolf Pine Farm, Alfred, Maine – Wolfpines’ winter CSA is a bit like a cooperative offering vegetables, meat as well as other pantry items such as pickles granola, sea salt, oats, cranberry sauce, dry beans and much more.  Food is delivered every three weeks. For Exeter residents they offer a drop off at Phillips Exeter Academy. Check out their sites for more drop-off points in southern Maine and the seacoast.

Tendercrop Farm, Newbury, MA – Just over the border in Newbury, Tendercrop is like a year-round indoor farmers’ market. They offer their own local meats and produce as well as meat from other local farms. They also carry flowers, baked goods and other packaged products such as crackers. They also have a very nice selection of cheese. It’s a pretty drive and worth a trip down if you can’t make it to the winter markets.

You can also get local meats in the winter at Philbrick’s Fresh Market (North Hampton and Portsmouth), On the Vine Marketplace and Portsmouth Health Food Center. Blue Moon Evolution restaurant sells eggs, yogurt and milk from Brookford Farm and I’ve seen local eggs at On the Vine as well.

Eat local, eat better.