Rob:  Well buying fresh and buying local is the goal of a coalition of growers, and consumers, with just that name.  Joining me now is the president of Sustainable Green Country, Rita Scott, and Doug Walton, community foods coordinator with the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture.  Well let’s start off with you, Doug, exactly what is Buy Fresh, Buy Local?
Doug Walton:  Well, thank you Rob for having us.  Buy Fresh, Buy Local is part of a national movement that’s happening, really, across the country.  And it’s beginning in Oklahoma in Green Country in northeastern Oklahoma with the formation of the first local chapter, basically people that have come together to make it easier for citizens to find locally produced food within their community.
Rob:  So Rita, how could someone get involved in this?
Rita Scott:  They can get involved by attending and going to all of the various farmers’ markets that are offered in Green Country.  In the Tulsa area alone, we have a farmers’ market offered almost every day of the week now, an evening market too.
Rob:  Now I know this next week, though, is local foods week, a special time for you.  Tell us what’s going to happen, Doug.
Doug:   Well, we’ve got events happening about every day of the week, starting on the 14th of June, farm tours, special cooking demonstrations at farmers’ markets, farm table dinners, cheese making classes, just about anything having to do with food and farming you can imagine it happening during local foods week.  
Rob:  And really a time for people just to learn more about where their food’s coming from, Rita.
Rita:  It is.  It is all about that and even more.  And you know, we think about food being just on the farm, but we also have a tremendous amount of interest in the urban setting as well.  And we’re seeing a lot of community gardens getting involved in growing their own food.  
Rob:  Well something that we saw earlier in this show is that food insecurity is unfortunately a problem here in Oklahoma, but there is work under way to help people that normally might not be able to shop at a farmers’ market.  Tell us how, Doug.
Doug:  Sure, yes.  Actually we have a couple of programs happening.  Beginning this year in Oklahoma, one is to expand the acceptance of food stamps at farmers’ markets.  As you may know, food stamps are no longer paper stamps, but are actually electronic benefits, and farmers’ markets haven’t been able to accept those since most don’t have electricity or phone lines.  And through grants from the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture and Department of Human Services wireless card readers, card reader devices are going to be available for farmers’ markets to accept the food stamp cards on.  
Rob:  Well it sounds like an absolutely fantastic program that’s going to help on a number of different levels.  I want to ask both of you this final question.  You both work in farmers’ markets, what are some of the reactions, and why do you think people like them so?  Rita, let’s start with you.
Rita:  They like them for the variety, but they also like them for the relationships, developing that relationship with the farmer.  They like to know who’s growing their food.  I mean we know our doctor, and we know our dentist, but do we know our farmer who is growing the food that we put into our bodies?
Doug:  And it’s fresh.  You really, you can’t buy it fresher unless you grew it yourself.  And that’s the great thing about the farmers’ market, most everything is picked the day before a market or even sometimes that morning if it’s an evening market.
Rob:  All right.  Well Local Foods Week is June 14th through the 21st.  And on our website we will have a link to the Kerr Center where there’s a list of all of the events.  Rita, Doug, thank you both for being here.
Thanks for having us.