A farmers market stall; a vendor hands a fresh apple to a customer. (Stock image)
Environmental Commission to create local food grower directory
- Published: August 24, 2026
This summer has been a rough one for lettuce lovers.
The outbreak of a microscopic parasite that if ingested causes intense diarrhea, loss of appetite and a host of other unfortunate symptoms, was linked to iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico and distributed by Taylor Farms.
As of press time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports more than 10,000 lab-confirmed cases of Cyclospora infections, and over 12,250 probable cases across the 47 affected states. More than 500 people have been hospitalized and two people have died.
Fast food and big box chains such as Taco Bell and Walmart weren’t the only retailers affected. According to Nielsen IQ, a consumer research firm, sales of prepackaged salads in grocery and other retailers dropped more than 20% in mid-July compared to June. Compare that to Springs Market here in Yellow Springs — 25 to 30 packs of lettuce were thrown out each week in the initial days of the outbreak, according to store manager Erica Rodriguez-Wyant.
The spreading of harmful bacteria and emptying of shelves are just a few of the consequences of a broken food system that some Village Environmental Commission members hope to ameliorate with a new initiative.
In recent weeks, the group has begun the work of establishing a local food producer directory.
The mission is simple. The Village-run commission aims to amass the names, contact information and the kinds of edible vendibles from area farmers and gardeners.
By putting all of that data in a single, living document — a directory accessible for individual consumers, restaurants and retailers — members of the Environmental Commission hope to “close the loop” on the Yellow Springs-area food system.
Ideally, that means keeping dollars local and fostering resilience on the resources closest to us.
“I think our agricultural economy is glossed over as an asset,” Environmental Commission Chair Johanna Schultz-Herman said.
“The commission is charged with guiding Council on decisions that impact land use, so that’s what we’re doing: closing the loop on getting more food grown locally into our restaurants and homes,” she said. “Hopefully, with a directory, it’ll make it easier for folks to find the resources that already exist within our community.”
But such a directory is still in the works.
Any and all local growers and gardeners are invited to be on the list; Schultz-Herman and the commission’s Council liaison Carmen Brown welcome people who produce anything from fruits and vegetables, eggs and honey, to flowers and sauerkraut, meat and milk — and most anything in between.
The caveat: you must live within a 30-mile radius of Yellow Springs.
“That’s the radius we figured in consideration of community sovereignty — thinking about what could be available in a post-carbon world and our current geopolitical circumstances,” Schultz-Herman said, noting that the more local, the better.
The deadline to be a part of the local food producer directory is Thursday, Oct. 1. To be included, go to http://www.shorturl.at/RFhpN to fill out a questionnaire, or email ysfarmdirectory@gmail.com.
Schultz-Herman and Brown emphasize that such a directory isn’t an attempt to wrest good lettuce off Springs Market’s shelves or to dissuade shoppers from going to the Saturday morning Farmers Market.
Instead, they suggest a fully filled-out directory could bring more villagers into local stores, restaurants, food pantries, soup kitchens and markets, as well as help those places better source their products.
The commissioners said they intend to keep the directory current moving forward — nixing farms that go defunct as years pass, and adding backyard gardeners who happen to be flush with zucchini one year more than another.
Once completed this fall, the first iteration of the directory will be inserted in this newspaper as a physical copy and will be distributed around town. A digital directory will follow.
“It’s important we start getting smaller,” Brown said of Yellow Springs’ food system. “This could be an opportunity to literally put our money where our mouths are.”
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