Today is Earth Day, and celebrations abound. Sustain the celebration year-round by choosing your most basic necessities mindfully. For example, we make myriad choices related to food every day and each has an impact. Choosing seasonal foods available locally impacts the globe minimally and your community positively.

The most obvious and festive source of local foods is farmers' markets. This afternoon you can help kick off the new site and hours for the Corvallis Wednesday Farmers' Market at Second and B streets from 3 to 7 p.m. - after school, after work!

Other sources are farm stores or stands, Web sites, local grocers, co-ops, local restaurants, some community gardens or your own garden. Find farm Web sites in the Local Food Directory at the new: www.tenriversfoodweb.org.

Community Supported Agriculture is a concept that has caught fire across the nation. Countless Benton and Linn county residents get a box of fresh produce every week, usually from May to November, in exchange for paying up-front, which gives farmers operating capital to get crops in. CSA members usually enjoy other perks, such as farm tours, potlucks, plus sometimes items from other farms (eggs, honey, produce and meat). There are many kinds of CSAs nationwide: meat, eggs, fruit, restaurant, even a seafood one on the east coast.

Traditional CSA opportunities

Denison Farms: denison@peak.org or 752-4156, www.denisonfarms.org

Laughing Duck Farm: ewmosher@laughingduckfarm.biz or 541-215-0512, www.laughingduckfarm.biz

Heavenly Harvest: heavenlyharvest@teleport.com 541-753-8463, www.heavenlyharvest.com

Mite bee farm: mitebee@peak.org or 929-5337

Gathering Together Farm: Sorry, it's full for the season.

New Twists on CSA

Deep Roots Farm: Learn about their Market Advantage CSA shares where you get credit to pick what you want at their farmers' market stands: www.deeprootsfarm.com 541-917-8944 or deeproot@peak.org.

Gathering Together Farm, Denison Farms and others have similar market coupons or stamp cards that offer discounts by purchasing in advance.

Sunbow Farm: Since late winter Sunbow has e-mailed a list of available vegetables and grains to a long list of folks each week and they order as they wish. Corvallis customers can usually have theirs delivered to their door the next day. To get on the list, e-mail them at sunbow@peak.org or phone 929-5782.

Neighborly Purchasing

• At least two neighborhoods in Corvallis go together to make direct purchases from local growers of many types of foods (produce, grains, beans, meat).

• The North College Hill neighborhood buying group gathers orders and when the minimum dollar amount set by the farm is reached the order is made, then picked up at the Veggie House on N.W. Van Buren Avenue. They welcome purchasers from outside the neighborhood or will help you start one in yours. Contact Emily Orendorff at 752-3998.

• The Southtown Harvest and Resource Exchange neighbors grow and share most of their food themselves (along with tools, seeds, expertise, etc.) but do buy some foods in bulk as a group to save money and support local growers. FMI: Xan at 231-1300 or xaugerot@q.com.

Fresh Sheet alerts readers to the seasonal foods that make the mid-Willamette Valley such a rich culinary area. Through tips from farmers, ranchers, fishers, cheese-makers and other food producers, as well as chefs and restaurateurs, Chris Peterson tracks what's flowing from soil and sea to local plates. Contact her at localfood@peak.org.