I receive the Local Harvest newsletter in my email inbox several times throughout the year. It is always informative and inspires me to make smart, local choices about the food I eat. This month's newsletter dealt with a topic that is often on the mind's of most people who are striving to eat local:

Is local food more expensive?

It is a question whose answer is not definitive. There are many variables that dictate the prices of food. The director of Local Harvest, Erin Barnett, has embarked on her own grassroots research to answer the question by compiling a list of prices from her local grocery store and her local farmers' market. In order to get a better idea of the answer to the question, she is asking people across the country to take part in her grassroots research plan.

Her is an excerpt from her newsletter:

A few days ago I took a notebook to my local supermarket, made a list of the prices for various fruits and vegetables, and then compared notes at my farmers market. The organic produce section at the grocery store was completely cleared out on this particular day, so I gathered conventional produce prices at the store and "low spray" at the market. Small watermelons (the ones they're calling "mini" or "personal size" this year) were $2 at the farmers market and $4.49 at the store. Local tomatoes at the grocery store were $2.49 a pound, and $1.50 a pound at the market. Peppers were less expensive at the market. Winter squash was about the same. Onions were cheaper at the store.

This small foray into price comparisons made me want to know more. I would like to have a good answer the next time a reporter calls to ask me whether 'local' is more expensive. Not that price is the only measure of value, but it is one, and sometimes an important one. Moreover, the perception about the relative price of buying local is also very important.

I'd like to ask for your help.

What I have in mind is a kind of collective research project. This newsletter will go out to about 50,000 people. Certainly a few dozen of you might be interested in doing a little comparative shopping over the next couple of months and maybe again in the spring? I have a spreadsheet that I will send to anyone who is interested. You can fill out the portions of it that apply to the foods that are in season where you live, and send it back to me. We'll compile all the data and report the findings back to the group. If you are interested in learning more about participating in this grassroots research, please contact me.

What a great opportunity to explore the benefits of eating local and to determine, in these tough financial times, how it will effect your wallet. You may be surprised by what you find.