Local getting stronger legs.

Home is where the heart is, and more consumers east of the Mississippi are thinking that California is far away, and that locally grown food is better for them, often better tasting, certainly better for the environment and the local economy, and possibly worth paying more for. Produce grown nearby supports local farmers and may be healthier than long-distance alternatives, whether or not it's organic. Weekly as well as daily farmer's markets are proliferating along with organized visits to working farms in or near metropolitan areas.

Day-long rock and reggae concerts feature the Farm Aid four (old timers including Willie Nelson and Neil Young) singing on behalf of family farmers. A spokesperson for Giant food of Maryland said that "Giant's locally grown program has helped emotionally connect consumers to its stores." Some consumers think that the California spinach problem underlines the value of locally grown by reinforcing the idea that bad things are more likely to happen when products are going to be shipped long distances.

Local restaurants that serve local foods have a double layer of appeal, and farm-to-table restaurants and meet-the-farmer events are growing in stature and popularity. As we were going in, I asked a couple just coming out of The Summerhouse Grill, a 30-seat farmer-supplied restaurant in the little town of Montrose, Pennyslvania, if the restaurant was as good as we'd heard. He said it was great; she said "It's just wonderful."

I couldn't resist tapping into that kind of enthusiasm with more questions and learned that this couple likes the idea that the restaurant gets its food and its word-of-mouth advertising from farmers and customers. "We heard about it from a cousin of the people who raise their chickens." The guerilla marketing that keeps this restaurant busy is provided by farmer-suppliers who recommend the restaurant to all their vendors, relatives, and neighbors who then pass it on to all of theirs.