Dig Local partnership ensures local farmers get their produce into the hands of Market of Choice customers
Going to the farm and purchasing directly from the farmstand is one way to procure the freshest and most unique produce of the season. Another way is to visit your local Market of Choice.
Thanks to our Dig Local program, farmers are able to distribute their produce to our stores throughout the state. A wider distribution network ensures that unique varieties of tomatoes or apples grown in Hood River make their way to Ashland or Medford, for example.
In this Everyday Northwest TV interview, Portland’s The CW Reporter Nicole DeCosta visits third-generation Kiyokawa Family Orchards, in Parkdale, Oregon, where Randy Kiyokawa oversees the growing of specialty apples, pears, cherries and peaches.
Randy shares how humbling it is to be in a Dig Local partnership with Market of Choice, which ensures that his produce is on display where customers throughout Oregon can purchase them.
“These are really unique varieties,” Randy says. “It allows us into communities that would normally not have the opportunity to try these.”
Tom, a produce specialist for Market of Choice, says that Dig Local makes it possible to receive local product from farmers who only distribute to a certain area. “That helps the farms who logistically can’t get to our stores,” he says.
Market of Choice’s produce selection, as a result, is a study in variety: zucchinis, tomatoes, mushrooms, beets, you name it – if it’s grown in Oregon and it’s in season, it will reach our shelves. And it’s so fresh.
“That’s one of my favorite things,” Tom says. “I can pick up produce from Eugene farmers and deliver it the same day it was harvested.”
Be sure to visit your Market of Choice Produce Department to see what our local farmers are growing to take to your family’s table – it’s the freshest available!
Discover more local makers, here.
