About This Operation

The Problem

The modern food system is a marvel of efficiency and a masterpiece of fragility. A single port closure, fuel shortage, or grid disruption can empty grocery shelves in 72 hours. Most people have no backup plan because they've never needed one.

Meanwhile, every region in America has farms, fisheries, ranches, and producers who sell direct — but finding them requires local knowledge that doesn't exist in any centralized database.

What These Guides Do

Each guide is a region-specific field manual for building a complete local food supply chain. They cover:

• Vegetables — CSAs, farm stands, farmers markets
• Protein — butchers, fisheries, poultry farms
• Dairy & eggs — creameries, egg farms, raw milk sources
• Pantry staples — grains, beans, honey, maple syrup, spices
• Preservation — seasonal calendars for canning, fermenting, freezing
• Foraging — wild foods calendar with safety guidance
• Budget — realistic cost breakdowns vs. supermarket spending

How to Use Them

Find the guide for your region. Read it. Visit the farms and vendors listed. Build relationships with the people who grow your food. Start small — a CSA share and a dozen eggs from a local farm is a perfectly good beginning.

The guides are written to be practical, not preachy. Every vendor listed has been vetted. Prices and availability are based on real-world experience, not wishful thinking.

Contribute a Guide

Know your local food landscape? We want your intel. Every region needs a guide, and the best person to write one is someone who already sources food locally.

Guides follow a consistent structure — vendor listings with contact info, seasonal calendars, price breakdowns, and honest assessments. If you can write a thorough document about where to find food in your area, we want to publish it.