Ideas for Celebrating Ohio Local Foods Week

Ideas for Celebrating Ohio Local Foods Week

Food Production

Food and Business

  • Host a Toast to Ohio Local Foods - Download How-to Guide
  • If you are a business that serves local foods as part of a meal, use the Local Food placemats:

Food and Family

Food and Community

  • Host a Toast to Ohio Local Foods - Download How-to Guide
  • Spoken Event, an evening of stories about a topic such as “you are what you eat.” The event could be as formal as selling tickets as a fundraiser and hosting it in a historic theatre with a panel of judges to choose three winners of the best stories or it could be as simple as a gathering of people and a hat to draw names to take turns to tell any story related to the topic of food. There should be an agreed-upon time limit for each speaker and someone to keep time and/or emcee the event.  To see more information about the food-related Spoken event held this spring in Toledo, Ohio, visit http://ohiotheatretoledo.org/event/spoken-an-evening-of-toledo-stories/   This event in Toledo also featured local foods for refreshments such as homemade gourmet jellies, cheese and crackers, popcorn and locally made cotton candy.
  • Organize a “local” farm tour – tours could be at a traditional rural farm, an urban agriculture site, community gardens, summer school gardens, a Community Supported Agriculture, etc.   For some great ideas of tours across the state in 2016, check out the Sustainable Ag Tour Brochure.
  • Promote local food topics and resources at scheduled programs that week.  For example, if you are hosting a nutrition class, mention what produce is in season and where it is available for a reasonable cost.
  • Promote the $10 Ohio Local Food Challenge in your community at https://localfoods.osu.edu/ohio-local-foods-week/take-challenge.
  • Host a food summit https://localfoods.osu.edu/news/planning-food-summit-our-templates-can-help.
  • Libraries – display on local food topics from agriculture to home food preservation to cookbooks.
  • Have a place to share videos?  Check out OSU Extension U Tube Channel with a variety of local foods topics https://localfoods.osu.edu/resources.
  • Share photos of your production on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ohiolocalfoodsweek or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/OHLocalFoodWeek (#localfoodsOH).
  • Farmers’ Markets
  • Restaurants serving local food and using local food placemats: