Going right to the source

DEFIANCE COUNTY, Ohio (WUPW) - With egg, meat and produce recalls grabbing headlines, a movement is underway in Northwest Ohio's six counties to promote locally grown food.

The Eating Local Foods Network (ELF) non-profit is bringing small farmers and food producers together to support each other and bring natural food to the masses.

The non-profit is not just to promote healthy food, but to spur the local economy.

Canal Junction Farmstead in Defiance County is a perfect example of locally grown. The farm raises grass-fed beef, pork, chicken, lamb, brown eggs and produce grass-fed raw milk ice cream and cheese.

"It all starts with the soil," said Brian Schlatter, Canal Junction's master cheesemaker. "If you have good soil it translates all the way up to the product."

Schlatter is the sixth generation on the farm and he's part of the Eating Local Foods Network.

"It's amazing," he said. "You've got to start with a little fire to get a big fire and when you get that little fire going it will blossom. The more people we get on board the better this is going to be."

The non-profit is promoting regional awareness of locally produced foods... hoping to spur consumption, production, and distribution.

"Here we're dealing with economic relationships where food literally connecting people who have never been connected before," said Ed Singer. "You can come here and instead of just picking up the eggs and walking away you can see where the eggs are actually laid."

The ELF network aims to help small food producers and make it even easier to get fresh food directly to you.

"The thing about fresh food is the nutritional value is highest the day after you pick it" said Valerie Kinsman. "When you go to the grocery you've lost half the vitamins because its been sitting around for a week."

"Our idea is if we have an online shopping cart system," she added. "No matter how much product that you have you can contribute and people can buy eggs from one farm, honey from another, so you didn't have to have large amounts to contribute."

The Eating Local Foods Network is holding a special dinner, the Flavors of the Black Swamp Banquet, Saturday evening, Sept. 11, at 5 p.m. at Opdyke Park in Montpelier. The dinner will feature all local foods.