Santa Cruz Local Foods To Expand

Noah and Eleanor Taylor have a backyard farm, and they wanted to make sure that their produce gets to as many people as possible. That’s why they started santacruzlocalfoodscom, a local business that collects food from local farmers, sell it online to local buyers and delivers it—by bike, of course—to customers. It’s a chance for people to get the freshest strawberries, tomatoes, and lettuce, and even flowers, breads, meat, and eggs while leaving a minimal carbon footprint. All of their suppliers are local “small-to-medium-sized producers who employ organic methods or use organic ingredients and who operate within 100 miles of Santa Cruz, unless noted,” according to the site. Deliveries are done with Pedal Express and cost $7, but there is also an option of coming to a drop site and picking up the groceries you’ve ordered yourself at one of three locations. Pick up and delivery take place on Tuesday, between 4:30 and 6:30 pm. Eleanor Taylor explains that the idea behind the site was to show people that it really is feasible to eat locally, and to get top quality produce. Their goal was “to really emphasize the bounty there is in this area.” This benefits the local farmers and food artisans by ensuring a market for their produce. Shoppers to the website can even plan their meals around the produce that is available and the menus listed on the site to get some delicious, healthy alternatives to standard fare. The Taylors have recently received media attention for an experiment they’re conducting on eating only foods grown within 100 miles of Santa Cruz for a month (something Santa Cruz Weekly writer Denise Vivar tried three years ago and reported on in a piece about locavorism). But they also have bigger business plans. Eleanor Taylor now says that she hopes to expand her business throughout the Monterey Bay Area. The local community is sure to benefit, and so will the farmers, who are often being forced out of business by competing corporate agribusiness. Just yesterday, the santacruzlocalfoods.com blog noted that one of their suppliers, TLC Ranch, “is calling it quits after 6 years of raising pasture fed livestock and eggs.” Hopefully, with initiatives like this, they will be the last of the local farmers to quit. Read more at KCBA.