Saturday, October 18, 2014

Support Local Farms by Shopping at Safeway

Buying from local farmers is important to me. When you buy locally, you're making a conscious choice to support your own community and also help limit the impact of the environmental footprint and transportation costs. I also thoroughly enjoy knowing what produce is actually in season, and not just shipped here from another country. Staying connected to where our food comes from also helps us incorporate healthier eating habits into our daily lives for ourselves, as well as for our children.
 
  
I received complimentary product and a gift card to bring you this post. All opinions are 100% my own. 

In the Northern California region we have a lot of options for buying local including many farmers markets, CSA subscriptions, and even my neighborhood Safeway grocery store. In fact, this gorgeous basket of fruits and vegetables, provided by Safeway, came from local farms. Yes, this was towards the end of summer, (so some of these are perhaps out of season now!) but I'm finally feeling well enough to share the easy dinner I made with a few of these delicious ingredients. Perhaps my simple concoction of veggies will encourage your family to incorporate more fresh, local produce into your meals too.


With some quick chopping, zucchini, red peppers and yellow summer squash are ready to cook. I love such vibrant colors together. I wanted to just stare at them all day! They're so pretty!


Simply throw your veggies into your cast iron with some grass-fed butter and stir occasionally until cooked to your liking. I prefer to enjoy them just as they begin to soften, but definitely not soggy. This generally takes about 12-15 minutes.

 

I use a seasoned salt to season them up, and towards the end I added some leftover organic chicken (also from Safeway) that I had previously cooked for a well-rounded meal. Viola! A very simple, easy recipe that is not only healthy and satisfying, but LOCAL. The taste and quality of the veggies was excellent.

This simple recipe can be changed throughout the year to incorporate whatever veggies are in season. Oftentimes I enjoy substituting broccoli or carrots.

Safeway is dedicated to fostering tight-knit relationships with local growers in Northern California (and many other parts of the country) to ensure that locally sourced, quality produce is easily available to integrate into your meals at home. 

I enjoy shopping at my local Safeway for produce, especially when I know I can find a large assortment of organic and/or local produce throughout the year. They also seem to be making a great effort to continue to expand their organic and/or local options in every department too. Kudos to Safeway!

Tell me. Do you try to buy local?

18 comments:

valmg @ From Val's Kitchen said...

We don't have many local places to buy local. I do look for certain products grown in Jersey at the grocery store though, such as tomatoes.

Danielle S said...

I shop at Vons mostly, and I love their produce. Since I live near the Coachella Valley, so much of our produce comes right from there.

MikiHope said...

I try to buy local but it is not easy where I live. I seem to miss the farmer's markets. I do try to buy local if it is in the supermarket where I shop!

Janet W. said...

I try to buy from local farmers whenever I can. That produce looks so good and fresh!

Beck Valley Books said...

Looks delicious, I always try to buy local whenever possible, especially local farmers who need as much support as they can get.

Savannah said...

Yes I buy local :). Our farmer market sets up every Sunday and I love all the yummy stuff I find there

J Rodney said...

We also try to buy local as much as possible, and since we're in Florida that thankfully means lots of local produce.

James Robert said...

We love going to the local Farmers Market for produce, real important to keep it local

Rebecca Swenor said...

The veggies looks so delicious indeed. I will have to try this. Yummy!!

Heidi Reads... said...

That is really great that Safeway buys from local farmers. Sometimes it's hard to know where to get local produce!

Unknown said...

I love that Safeway does this! I"ll have to look for one in our area.

Kelly Tillotson said...

I wish I had my own garden! I pick up some good deals at the big farmers market in dallas--tomatoes are supposed to be a great deal this coming week so I will be canning lots!
*kelly
kelly-tillotson@hotmail.com

Keara B. said...

We have a Safeway's near my home, but for some reason I've never shopped there. Now I'm going to check them out... if they have local produce that's a big bonus for me. Thanks for sharing, you learn something new every day!

Sarah Hayes said...

we go to the farmers market every week and buy as much local as we can. all those veggies look delicious

CopilotWife said...

We don't have any Safeways down here, but we have some farmers markets and one grocery that carries locally grown produce and honey- it's so delicious.

Kelly O said...

I am a big fan of buying local produce. I love that Safeway is promoting this. I try to buy what I can at the Farmer's Market whenever possible. I think knowing the farmer is the best of the best.

Theresa said...

Yum, it's encouraging to think about summer veggies in the middle of winter. I'm hoping that most of my veggies this summer will come from our own garden but it's good to know that safeway stocks local veggies too :)

Beth R said...

Those veggies look amazing! I am a huge fan of buying local and didn't realize that Safeways did that