One of the fun things about traveling is checking out the best local food. After all, if you’re traveling across America, why eat at a place that has an identical location in your hometown? It’s much more fun and interesting to eat at a local establishment, particularly one that sources its food locally. A new study has found the best cities to eat locally. Lawnstarter.com compiled the list based on factors such as community-supported agriculture, farm stands and markets, bakeries, dairy farms, butcher shops, seafood markets, and others. They compared 200 of the largest cities in the U.S. and then gathered data on each factor from various sources.
What Are The Best Florida Cities To Eat Locally?
There are 200 cities on the list and 13 Florida cities are ranked. These cities include Miami (#28), Tampa (#55), Fort Lauderdale (#59), Orlando (#71), Tallahassee (#72), St. Petersburg (#80), Hialeah (#104), Hollywood (#118), Jacksonville (#129), Port St. Lucie (#130), Pembroke Pines (#132), and Cape Coral (#142).
The study found that Jacksonville had the fewest agricultural workers per 100,000 residents. It also found that Hollywood tied for number one with the fewest community-supported agriculture per 100,00 residents.
What Are Some Of the Other Best Cities To Eat Locally?
If you love local food, you may want to consider a trip to Portland, Oregon. Overall, the state took first place with the best access to local food and the highest number of u-pick farms. Also, the study says that the city offers many farm stands, on-farm markets, and craft breweries per square mile.
Meanwhile, Mid-Atlantic cities, including Baltimore, Alexandria, Virginia, and Washington followed Portland, Oregon in spots 2, 3, and 4. These states have high access to and support for eating locally.
What Are The Worst Cities For Local Food?
When it comes to the worst city for local food, Anchorage, Alaska was ranked last with an overall rank of 200. The study found that Anchorage had the fewest u-pick farms, a low score for local food access, and the convenience of finding local foods.
However, eight of the bottom 11 cities were in Texas. These cities include Laredo, Amarillo, El Paso, Lubbock, Brownsville, Killeen, and McAllen. This could be due to the study’s factoring in community-supported agriculture, u-pick farms in those areas, and lack of on-farm markets.
