The idea of buying local food can be daunting; understandably, the perceived higher prices for local foods and a lack of accessibility make it challenging for consumers. However, Abundant Montana, an organization dedicated to bringing locally grown food to Montana tables, seeks to correct misconceptions and address apprehensions surrounding local food.
“There’s a strong perception that local food costs more,” says Erin Austin, director of community partners and sales at Abundant Montana. “Sometimes that’s true. Sometimes the cost is actually pretty comparable to other foods.”
While this is good news, Austin’s colleague Sammie McGowan, Abundant Montana director of marketing and communications, says availability remains a barrier for some people looking to eat local. “It’s not as easy to find or buy local food in grocery stores,” she says. “You tend to have to seek it out individually, like at a farmers market.”
Despite the challenges, Austin says buying local can have many benefits for the consumer and community. “By buying local food, I am supporting my neighbors and the economic growth and vitality of my community,” she says. “I’m supporting the environment. Food’s traveling less far. I get to choose farms whose growing practices I support, that are investing in climate-healthy growing practices.”
Recently, Abundant Montana launched its 33×33 Initiative, a goal of promoting 33 percent of all food consumed in Montana to be sourced locally by 2033. (Read “Bringing Montana Food Back to Montana Plates” in the Spring 2026 edition of Edible Bozeman.) “There are so many ways you can go about eating local, Montana-grown food,” Austin says.
“You can start super small and think about one ingredient that you want to source from Montana, be it a protein or a vegetable or a grain. There’s an abundance, no pun intended, in the state.”
In addition to farmers markets or buying directly from the producer, here are a few ways you can source your next ingredient from Montana.
To learn about more options for buying local, read about Fat Toads Farm Pantry and visit Abundant Montana’s Find Food and Farms Map and Local Food Guide at abundantmontana.com.
CSA MODELS
Many businesses offer community-supported agriculture (CSA) harvest subscription models to provide customers with locally grown foods. “The farmer or rancher or other type of business [sells] you a share of what they produce in a year,” McGowan explains. “For example, if you buy a CSA from a vegetable farmer, you are going to receive some share of whatever they have growing that week.”
“For the consumer, it makes it super easy to not have to think about buying local food every week,” she says. “You are just going and picking up your CSA [share], and then you have a week’s worth of produce. You’re also going to have a more intimate relationship with your farmer because you’re going to see them every week when you pick up your CSA. Buying a CSA for a consumer, especially someone who’s not currently buying local food, is a great way to get their feet wet on so many different aspects of buying local.”
“By buying local food, I am supporting my neighbors and the economic growth and vitality of my community. I’m supporting the environment. Food’s traveling less far. I get to choose farms whose growing practices I support, that are investing in climate-healthy growing practices.” — Erin Austin, Abundant Montana
The staff at Root Cellar Foods pack locally sourced food for area delivery. Photo: Courtesy of Root Cellar Foods
ROOT CELLAR FOODS
A year-round online market for locally grown and produced food, Root Cellar Foods packages and delivers Montana-sourced food all around the Gallatin Valley and Big Sky. Every week, the market opens for online orders at 3 p.m. on Thursday and closes at noon on Monday. Then, owner Christina Angell and her team send the online orders to their vendors, who supply the food to Root Cellar on Tuesday and Wednesday to be prepared for delivery on Thursday.
Angell started Root Cellar Foods in 2014 in an effort to bring more locally grown food to people in Bozeman. She says the nutritional value of locally grown foods can be higher than products mass-produced elsewhere, and describes her interest in supporting the community in all aspects.
To that aim, Angell recently launched a new section of the market that offers pre-made dishes, including soups, salads, sauces, and dips, all made with locally sourced ingredients.
rootcellarfoods.localfoodmarketplace.com
REGENMARKET
RegenMarket based in Big Sky provides home delivery of regeneratively sourced beef, bison, pork, lamb, chicken, salmon, venison, and honey from farms and ranches across Montana, Idaho, and the Mountain West. According to general manager Xan Jarecki, RegenMarket partners with producers that foster intrinsic wild behavior in the species. “How natural of a life are we giving this animal? How little can we intervene?” he asks.
Originally, RegenMarket operated on a subscription-based credit membership model, but has recently switched to an open market for all customers. “We have grown to the point where we can sustain ourselves now, so we wanted to open up the business to everyone because memberships can be prohibitive,” Jarecki says.
In partnership with Chance Farm and Feeder Creek Farms, both of Bozeman, RegenMarket is offering an 18-week CSA subscription this summer with choices ranging from vegetables, meats, flowers, eggs, or varying combinations of each. “It’s a tool to reach more of our community in the hopes of getting more people to be passionate about where their food comes from and how their food makes them feel,” Jarecki says.
Each week orders are processed and shipped nationwide and are available for local pickup in Gallatin Gateway or delivery in Bozeman and Big Sky.
WHOLE AND NOURISHED
Since its founding in 2017, Bozeman-based kitchen Whole and Nourished has delivered nutritious meals made from locally sourced ingredients across Gallatin Valley.
“There’s a lot of busy people who have the best intentions of cooking and eating well and want to make good meals for themselves and their families and just don’t have the time,” says owner Heather Babineau-Z. “They end up going out to eat or choosing lesser-quality options from the grocery store. We cater to the busy professionals and parents who aren’t necessarily looking for fancy meals.”
Every week, the Whole and Nourished staff creates a new menu that is posted online, including seven to eight fresh entrees. “In addition to those fresh items, we offer 50 to 60 frozen meal options, everything from lasagna, spaghetti sauce, and meatballs to chicken marsala to veggie soups to smoothies to cookie doughs to cakes,” says Babineau-Z. “Between the fresh and frozen meals there are 60 to 70 items to choose from on any given week.”
Customers place their order each week and food is delivered or available for pickup in Bozeman, Belgrade, Big Sky, and Livingston on Wednesdays.
HUCKLEBERRY’S NATURAL MARKET
A market within Rosauers, Huckleberry’s Natural Market offers a vast and often diverse selection of organic products sourced from all across Montana and the Northwestern U.S. First established in Seattle in 1996, Huckleberry’s seeks to provide customers with local products that are clean, animal-cruelty-free, and sustainably sourced.
“We put a big focus on [local foods] and we keep it so it’s easy to find,” says Rosauers Store Manager Chris Hurlbut. “We’re getting new items all the time that are locally made.” According to Hurlbut, lots of locally sourced items have already been integrated into the mainstream regular grocery store.
He says as a third-party vendor, there’s an opportunity to help customers learn more about the foods they buy and the markets they shop at. And for Huckleberry’s, the goal is to make healthy living easier.
“We try to educate customers,” he says. “Keeping it local is better for everybody. Food doesn’t have to get transported a long distance; [local food] is going to taste better; it’s going to be nutritious.”
