NEW: Rhode Island Named 6th Best State to Eat Local
Monday, April 14, 2014
Rhode Island is one of the best states in the nation when it comes to providing access of local food to its residents, according to a new survey by Strolling of the Heifers, a Vermont-based local food advocacy group.
The group’s third annual Locavore Index has ranked Rhode Island the 6th best state in the country in terms of its commitment to local foods. This year's ranking marks the first time Rhode Island has made the top 10 in the Locavore survey. The past two years the Ocean State has finished 11th and 24th respectively.
“For all the attention that locavorism has received in recent years, reliable and consistent state-by-state statistics on local food consumption are hard to come by,” said Orly Munzing, founder and executive director of Strolling of the Heifers “If we all agree that growing, buying and eating local foods is good, then we need to do a better job of measuring it."
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe index consists of four components:
• Number of farmers markets
• Number of CSAs (consumer-supported agriculture)
• Number of food hubs (facilities that handle the aggregation, distribution and marketing of foods from a group of farms and food producers in a region)
• Percentage of school districts with farm-to-school programs
Best and worst
So which other states made the top 10? Here they are:
1. Vermont
2. Maine
3. New Hampshire
4. Oregon
5. Hawaii
6. Rhode Island
7. North Dakota
8. Wisconsin
9. Montana
10. Iowa
As for the worst states for local food availability, they are:
1. Texas
2. Nevada
3. Arizona
4. Louisiana
5. Arkansas
6. Oklahoma
7. Mississippi
8. Illinois
9. Utah
10. Alabama
Sources for the data used in the Index includes three U.S. Department of Agriculture databases: farmers markets (updated monthly), food hubs, and the Farm-to-School Census; the U.S. Census bureau (July 2012 estimates of population); and the California-based local food resource directory LocalHarvest, a frequently-updated database of CSAs.
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