by Angie Lavezzo, CFSA Communications Coordinator | Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2021 –
This holiday season is upon us. Many plan to spend it with family and friends, and look forward to comforting meals, cocoa by the fire, and exchanging gifts with our loved ones. As markets thin and many growers plan for the upcoming year, there are many ways to support local farms with gift-giving!
Shop local is a trope that we often hear about these days. It can be so easy to click a few buttons on our devices and buy most of our gifts without ever seeing or touching them. But here’s the thing: shopping local is easy too! And, dare I say, good for us! We can connect with other people in a meaningful way. It is enjoyable to be in the moment and stroll from booth to booth. You don’t have to worry about supply chain disruptions or shipping delays. And by keeping our dollars in our community, we can support the very farmers and makers in our area who work so hard to support and care for us.
It can be so easy to click a few buttons on our devices and buy most of our gifts without ever seeing or touching them. But here’s the thing: shopping local is easy too!
Is shopping at the farmers market not right for you? There are still ways to buy from area farmers. One way to go is to look at the website of your farmers market. Who sells there? Do they have websites? Look at each vendor’s website and see if they have an online store you can patronize. If not, see if they list where their products are sold; while they may not have an online store, one of the stockists might. And if you prefer to browse, you can also look at local shops. Here in Asheville, there are herb shops, grocers, and food co-ops that carry locally-grown and locally-made items.
Head to your local farmers market, holiday craft show, or pop-up market (or their website) right now, and you will find a plethora of wonderful items! Here are some of our favorite ideas that make useful, thoughtful, and welcome gifts.
Wreaths & Dried Flower Arrangements
Holiday wreaths are plentiful this time of year and are a great go-to for the person that’s hard to find the right gift for or who may be opposed to stuff. Many growers, especially those specializing in flower production, offer lovely fresh greenery and dried flower wreaths and bouquets that can last for many seasons before needing to be replaced.
In addition to decorative floral pieces, you may find a variety of sachets and potpourri.
Honey
Fresh local honey is one of nature’s most genuine delights. Endlessly versatile in its simplicity, whether the gift recipient will sweeten their tea with it or use it in gourmet recipes, this is a gift that has staying power. Available in many sizes, you can pair it with a local tea mix for a well-rounded offering. Chat with the beekeeper to ask about the flavor profiles of the different kinds of honey. Generally speaking, honey that is lighter in color will be delicate and floral in taste, and darker honey will be richer and more earthy.
Beekeepers often have products made from their beeswax, too, such as luscious-smelling candles, beeswax food wraps, and body care items.
Condiments
These are some of the most common products you might find at any market because it is a natural extension of what growers have on hand. They can use their own fresh produce and make products they can sell in the off-season. Jams, jellies, chutneys, hot sauce, salsa, and ferments are all tasty and reasonably priced, so you can give a few in a pretty basket.
Spices & Teas
Artisanal spice blends, flavored salts and sugars, and tea blends are trendy right now and a fantastic choice for the foodies in your life. Many makers are growing the herbs and spices themselves or trying to source them within their farmer circles.
Local ingredients make them a good gift for friends, whether they are near or far. Shipping a taste of the Carolinas is a great way to showcase local flavors and fare.
Infused Oils & Vinegar
Flavored oils and vinegars can enhance salads, marinades, and sauces and add an unexpected pizazz to everything from popcorn to the fanciest cut of beef. These come in many flavors and sizes and look so beautiful that the recipient may choose to use them for display instead of cooking!
Soaps & Body Care Products
We always need soap, and beautiful handmade soap in lovely colors and appealing scents are always appreciated. Besides soaps, you might find lotions, scrubs, salves, hydrosols, essential oils, candles, and other goodies to pamper the skincare lover in your life.
Pet Treats & Accessories
Don’t forget about your furry friends! There are some amazing treat makers out there, offering tasty biscuits, seasonally flavored cookies, and sometimes little pet-appropriate cakes. You can also find clever bandanas, cute collars, cat grass pots, fresh and dried catnip, and various other accouterments.
Spirits
You may not think of hard beverages as a gift from local farms, but some farmers make their own wines and shrubs, while others partner with makers. There’s a plethora of craft brewers and distillers in the Carolinas that source their botanicals and flavor crops from local farms. Makers that do tend to list where the local ingredients came from, so look to the labels for more information.
And if that isn’t available to you, there’s always the option to put together a cocktail kit using local ingredients.
The farmers at Alpaca Dreams (Louisburg, NC) sell plush toy alpacas at their farm store, which are woven from real alpaca fiber.
Handicrafts
While, technically, everything we’ve listed could be considered handicrafts, here we are talking about non-food/produce items. Farmers that keep sheep and alpaca use their animals’ fibers and make wonderful toys, home goods (like dryer balls), and a variety of scarves, mittens, sweaters, and blankets.
Aside from locally grown goods, there are also plenty of non-edible items. We’ve seen fantastic jewelry of all kinds at markets. Fabric workers have lovely sewn goods like aprons, bags, quilts, and more. There are often artists selling original and printed wall art, magnets, and stickers, which can be a good choice for teenagers.
CSA Shares
While farms don’t often start marketing their CSA shares until after the new year begins, that doesn’t mean that they can’t sell you a share early to gift to a loved one. This offering is a triple win in our books! The farmer gets some early support, you get to give a gift that keeps on giving, and the receiver receives wholesome, nutritious food for the length of the share!
If you’re adrift with what a CSA share is or how to procure one, don’t miss:
- CFSA’s Why I Love CSAs & Questions to Ask Before Buying a Share
- CFSA’s How to Buy Local: CSAs with Patricia Parker of In Good Heart Farm (embedded below)
- Shared Legacy Farms’ How to Find the Right CSA
Non-Gift Gifts
Maybe you are a family that has enough stuff? Or maybe you want to round out your gifts with something educational or philanthropic. Donations and memberships to non-profit organizations that support farms, food access, climate justice, pollinators, or native plants are thoughtful choices that can set the recipient up with a connection to information that they can learn from for a long time.
If you live in an area that doesn’t have markets during the winter, check with the folks that run the market and see if a one-off market day for holiday shopping is set up.
If you have relationships with your local farmers, ask them directly if they make any products that would make good gifts or have friends who do. Social media pages can also point you to a grower or maker’s online purchase options. Holiday gift-giving is another way we can use our money to help shape the community we want to live in and support our local farmers, growers, and makers.
Happy holidays!
Are we missing anything? Drop the author, Angie, an email at angie@carolinafarmstewards.org.