Kathy and Rodney Hager are farmers first, and business owners second. And it shows in the quality of the beef they sell at their Sellersburg shop, Preferred Meats.

The Hagers supply much of the store’s beef with cattle from their Orange County farm, and what they don’t supply themselves they try to get from local farmers around Indiana.

“We’re the small guy on the block — we don’t try to compete with Jay C and Kroger,” Kathy said. “It’s a totally different program of quality and customer service.”

The beef the Hagers raise on the 600-head of cattle farm is hormone and antibiotic free.

And even with the economy slowing down, the Hagers’ business is steadily growing. Kathy said her customers want to support local producers. And that is exactly what the Purdue University Extension agency is trying to create more of with Go Local Indiana week, which starts today. Its aim is to get residents to support local businesses and producers, and the local economy — in addition to recognizing all the great things Indiana has to offer.

The farmers market in Jeffersonville and in Charlestown, stores like Preferred Meats in Sellersburg and the New Albanian Brewing Company in New Albany, and farms like Maggie Oster’s Rose Wind Farms, are all opportunities for residents to support local producers.

The New Albanian Brewing Company, which has been brewing beer locally in New Albany since 2002, is planning a second location in downtown New Albany. The new location will also be getting as much food from local producers as possible.

And with the farmers market just down the road, it shouldn’t be too difficult. The proximity of the market is one of the reasons the location was chosen, said co-owner Roger Baylor.

“(Buying local) is important for its own reasons, but it’s a selling point to,” Baylor said. “It keeps the money here. And it helps preserve something distinctive — life is not just about the best price.

“I don’t want the whole world to be the same. Whenever I go someplace, I ask, ‘What do you do here? What do you make here? What is special about this place?

“It’s almost a spiritual thing — it’s something you believe in even if it costs you a dollar more.”

Even corporations like Clark Memorial Hospital are clueing in to the effort to support local producers. The hospital regularly turns the cafeteria into a farmers market, where local farmers set up their produce stands in rows like the open-air market in Preservation Park.

The extension agency is encouraging residents to support local producers this week by going to a u-pick farm, a farmer’s market, or by hosting a local food pitch-in, where each person brings a food dish made with local ingredients.

But it doesn’t have to be just for a week — it can become a way of life like it has for Maggie Oster.

Oster owns Rose Wind Farm, which straddles the Floyd and Clark border in Starlight. Her parents purchased the 118-acre property when it was dilapidated and overgrown.

But through careful conservation practices and a lot of hard work, it has been restored and Oster plans on keeping it that way.

“Both my parents were very interested in sustainable farming,” Oster said. “We always had a great garden.

“When we were done with one meal, we were immediately talking about what would be ready to pick for the next meal — there was always excitement about well-grown food done in a sensible manner.”

Oster is a staunch supporter of local food and sustainable agriculture. She uses about six acres of the property now for vegetable, fruit, and native plant gardens, and she also operates a bed and breakfast.

She used to sell at the Farmers Market in downtown New Albany, but she is looking for another way to market her harvest. She also has plenty of people who know what she’s growing and come to her to purchase it.

She said there are many reasons to shop locally.

“It helps the environment — there isn’t as much gasoline being used to ship food,” Oster said. “But one of the greatest things is it has more taste and more nutrition. Food right out of the garden you don’t have to do a lot to.

“Buying local also improves the local economy, and gives people an opportunity to make a living. And it keeps land in production, it maintains a character that if you know it and love it you want to see it preserved.”

And that may be reason enough.



Where to shop locally

Clark County Farmers Market

• WHERE: In Jeffersonville’s Preservation Park (corner Market and Spring streets)

• WHEN: Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m., Tuesdays, 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.

May through October

• WHERE: Around the Square in Charlestown

• WHEN: Thursdays, 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.

June through September



Preferred Meats

110 Hometown Plaza

Sellersburg, IN 47172

812-246-5930



Rose Wind Farm

7670 Chapel Hill Road

Starlight, IN 47106

812-923-0762

www.rosewindfarm.com



New Albanian Brewing Company and Rich-O’s Public House

3312 Plaza Drive

New Albany, Indiana

812-949-2804



NEW ALBANY Farmers Market

WHERE: Corner Market and Bank streets in New Albany

WHEN: Saturday: 8 a.m. - 1 p.m.; Wednesday: 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.; mid-May through October



Navilleton Shrimp & Buffalo Farm

7715 Navilleton Rd.

in Floyds Knobs

812-923-5171

backhoebucket@aol.com



Indian Creek Winery

6491 County Line Rd. NE in Georgetown

812-951-0303

www.indiancreekwinery.org