Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on LawnStarter.
Where in America can you easily find farm-fresh food?
Cook up a locavore feast with our ranking of 2023’s Best Cities to Eat Local Food.
To mark National Small Business Week starting April 30, LawnStarter compared the 200 biggest U.S. cities based on three categories.
We looked for cities with great access to community-supported agriculture (CSAs), u-pick farms, local dairy farms, and on-farm markets. We also considered the number of local food movement groups, among 17 metrics.
Dig into our ranking below. To learn how we ranked the cities, see our methodology at the end.
1. Portland, OR
- Overall Score: 51.297
- Access Rank: 1
- Convenience Rank: 2
- Support Rank: 27
2. Baltimore, MD
- Overall Score: 47.613
- Access Rank: 10
- Convenience Rank: 1
- Support Rank: 2
3. Alexandria, VA
- Overall Score: 47.497
- Access Rank: 2
- Convenience Rank: 18
- Support Rank: 4
4. Washington, D.C.
- Overall Score: 43.032
- Access Rank: 13
- Convenience Rank: 26
- Support Rank: 1
5. Minneapolis, MN
- Overall Score: 41.927
- Access Rank: 8
- Convenience Rank: 4
- Support Rank: 50
6. Seattle, WA
- Overall Score: 41.248
- Access Rank: 7
- Convenience Rank: 7
- Support Rank: 53
7. Boston, MA
- Overall Score: 40.731
- Access Rank: 3
- Convenience Rank: 34
- Support Rank: 77
8. Madison, WI
- Overall Score: 37.248
- Access Rank: 17
- Convenience Rank: 21
- Support Rank: 18
9. Providence, RI
- Overall Score: 36.494
- Access Rank: 9
- Convenience Rank: 24
- Support Rank: 170
10. Vancouver, WA
- Overall Score: 36.165
- Access Rank: 6
- Convenience Rank: 53
- Support Rank: 107
11. Worcester, MA
- Overall Score: 36.009
- Access Rank: 4
- Convenience Rank: 69
- Support Rank: 189
12. New York, NY
- Overall Score: 35.979
- Access Rank: 33
- Convenience Rank: 3
- Support Rank: 20
13. Salem, OR
- Overall Score: 35.865
- Access Rank: 14
- Convenience Rank: 23
- Support Rank: 95
14. Durham, NC
- Overall Score: 35.321
- Access Rank: 18
- Convenience Rank: 11
- Support Rank: 184
15. St. Paul, MN
- Overall Score: 35.116
- Access Rank: 12
- Convenience Rank: 59
- Support Rank: 50
Methodology
First, we determined the factors (metrics) that are most relevant to rank the Best Cities to Eat Local Food. We then assigned a weight to each factor based on its importance and grouped those factors into three categories: Access, Convenience, and Support. Here are the categories:
- Number of CSAs (Community-Supported Agriculture)
- Number of Dairy Farms in County
- Number of Farm Stands
- Number of U-Pick Farms
- Number of On-Farm Markets Within 50 Miles
- Number of Food Hubs Within 100 Miles
- Seafood Markets per Square Mile
- Butcher Shops per Square Mile
- Bakeries per Square Mile
- Craft Breweries per Square Mile
- Wineries per Square Mile
- Urban Gardening-Friendliness
- Number of Local Farms Offering On-Farm Pickup
- Number of Local Farms Offering Delivery
- Number of Slow Food USA Local Chapters
- Has Buy Fresh, Buy Local Chapter
- Agricultural Workers per 100,000 residents
For each of the 200 biggest U.S. cities, we then gathered data on each factor.
Finally, we calculated scores (out of 100 points) for each city to determine its rank in each factor, each category, and overall. A city’s Overall Score is the average of its scores across all factors and categories. The highest Overall Score ranked “Best” (No. 1).
