Holiday Gifts for Indiana Local Food Lovers

If you have Indiana local food lovers on your holiday list, you've got lots of choices when it comes to gifts. Here are a few of my favorite things:

Maple Syrup and Honey: Check out the Indiana Food Guide for local producers of honey and maple syrup. Package a jar or two with a bag of pancake mix from Greenfield Mills.

Wines: With an abundance of Indiana wineries, finding a few bottles of great wine is easy. Add a "certificate" offering to be the designated driver for an afternoon of local winery visits and you'll have a fun gift for the local wine lover on your list.

Restaurant Gift Certificates: Visit the Restaurants section on this site for restaurants featuring local foods and get a certificate for a lunch or dinner.

Local Food Gift Basket: Fill a wicker basket (or better yet, a GOING LOCAL tote bag) full of local cheeses, meats, poultry, eggs, and winter produce from a farm or farmer's market in your area.

Books and Magazines: Local food lovers will enjoy a subscription to Indianapolis DINE and/or Indiana Living Green whose articles often feature local Indiana food products and producers, an Indiana cookbook, or a book about the local food movement.

CSA Share: Who wouldn't delight in the weekly promise of locally grown, farm fresh produce, and other tasty items delivered to their door? Check out this site's CSA section for one near you.

Homemade Gifts: Gifts from your own kitchen are always special and greatly appreciated. How about picking up a local chicken or some beef soup bones and making a few quarts of chicken stock or beef broth for your friends? Or whip up a big batch of homemade soup, chili, or stew using local beef, chicken, or pork? Freeze it in 2 cup freezer safe containers for easy use.

If your culinary skills run more toward baked goods, make something yummy and sweet with Indiana sorghum. You'll find several unique recipes, including one for an authentic mincemeat in Pickett's Sorghum "Bakers Delights" cookbook.

GOING LOCAL wear: (Taking advantage of holiday gift giving opportunity for shameless self promotion!) Show your support for local food in Indiana! Visit the GOING LOCAL Cafe Press store for market tote bags,Ts and shirts, hats, aprons, a beyond adorable dog t-shirt, bumper sticker, and all sorts of other fun and functional items displaying the GOING LOCAL logo.

Any one of these gifts would make a local food lover smile. And while we all agree that during this holiday season it's better to give than it is to receive, emailing this list to your own special Santa is certainly appropriate and highly encouraged!