Any other Locavores here?  We've been slowly working that way.  With a new farmer's market in town we're at about 90% local... the only things we buy nonlocally are major electronics... everything else we've found a local source for.. to me being a locavore goes far beyond buying local foods.  :)

Yep!  Living in Oregon, it's easy.  Can get almost everything locally except for thigs like pineapple. :)

Yes.  It's pretty easy to do where I live, too.   I'm even doing a bread CSA this winter which is quite yummy.

Julie, there may be local produce co-ops that you can find through your local health food stores.

WOW! I can't find fresh produce at our local farmers market to be LESS than the grocery store...almost all of the time. I know the quality is FAR superior...for some that's enough, but our budget is entirely too tight to enjoy better quality. How do you find it to be cost effective in your area? I'm JEALOUS!

We are not near 100%, but we try as much as possible. We are fortunate to have a grocery store chain here that contracts with many local farmers for produce, meat, dairy, and other locally produced or manufactured items. We participate in their CSA each summer. The taste of the produce is noticably better. The price is not significantly higher than commercially grown produce, unlike what occurs at Whole Foods.

We do also attempt to patronize local shops for other items when possible.

I prioritize organic over local.  I buy local when I can, but I've seen reports that how a food is grown is more important environmentally than how far it has traveled.  I absolutely refuse to buy sprayed products at our local farmer's market--if they want to charge what their neighbor is, they can produce organic as well.  

I do fairly well food-wise in the spring & summer because of the market.  Including local meats, which are nice. However, buying fresh to freeze myself is simply too expensive (time, money, freezer space) so I don't do nearly as well in the winter.  I still want to eat fruits & veggies.   Kraft is local to us, but I think the products get shipped out to a distributor then back to town, so I don't know if it counts as local!

Non-food I don't do so well in terms of produced locally.  I try to buy at local businesses when the option is there, but that's not the source of the products.   I'm not entirely sure how one would buy only local books, for example. I suppose we do have a local publisher--I could read lots of books about sports teams.  

How do you buy locally produced clothing? (Do you live where cloth is made?).  I have a hard time even figuring out how I would go about buying things that are produced locally from start to finish.  Some part of it, yes, but the entire sequence?

We joined a CSA for veggies and it's great; what they don't provide I usually pick up at the farmer's market. I wish we could get local meat and fruit, altho we go meatless 2-3 times a week.

But a word of caution about farmers markets, although I know there are many different varieties. But just because it's being sold at a farmers market does NOT necessarily mean it's locally produced---or even grown by the seller.

Many sellers buy their produce at the packing plants or warehouses, and it can be inferior quality, or just old. Even the good quality stuff is grown at industrial farms, where shipping durability and shelf life trump flavor. And many FL markets are filled with veggies that can't be grown in Fl.

I don't want to be overly critical; I shop there myself. But it's amazing what some shoppers assume, just because it's sold there....

But I bet everyone who's on this topic knows all this.

Betty has a good point.  The farmer's market where we are is mostly local. This was a nice change--I'd been rather soured from previous experiences.

The roadside stands where I used to live I asked a guy if he grew it--he said nope, bought it at the local grocery store!   (I had to be impressed at his entrepreuniralship even if I was annoyed).

Where my parents are I went one day, and at least a good chunk of it was from a couple states away!  

We purchse or grow a good portion of our food locally.

We have two gardens (one at the community garden and one in the back yard).  We belong to a u-pick-it CSA.  We buy local eggs in the spring/summer/fall.  And quite a bit of local beer - Boulevard Brewing is in town. Although we also like the wind-powered Fat Tire. (I have no excuse for the Guinness, though!)

I frequent a the stands for the local farms as much as possible and then the farmer's market/ amish market the rest of the time.  Its SO Much cheaper than at the grocery store and the quality is always better.  Since both my husband and I are vegetarian, we can get nearly all of our foodstuffs local.  We're hoping to do some canning/freezing this year so we have stuff to carry over through next winter.  We're also planning on starting a veggie patch and growing our own herbs. 

I'm always on the look out for more local sources...and I'm lucky to be where I am.  Lots of choices!

You're lucky it's cheaper!

We have a local food co-op.  (Not all the food is local, and some if it I don't understand why it isn't.)  I'd like to do more of my grocery shopping there, but I just can't hack some of the prices.  To buy in bulk (my container), non-organic olive oil would more than double what we currently pay. The EXACT same milk we buy is about 30% higher there.  Same with butter.

I know there is a small store premium.  That's a bit much for me, though.  I could handle the $3.99 milk being $4.25, maybe $4.50, but over $5?  That stops being something I'm willing to buy.