Trevor Clatterbuck has been bringing the eat-local movement into Cleveland homes one bag of food at a time. In 2008, the Case Western Reserve University graduate founded Fresh Fork Market, which now works with nearly 100 local farms and provides a weekly food delivery to more than 1,000 subscribers. Clatterbuck plans to grow that number to 2,500 this summer.
Q. How does Fresh Fork work?
A. We offer a weekly subscription June to November and every other week in the winter. We put together a grab bag; it's kind of like your meal plan for the week based on what's available from local farmers. We have three different sized packages and three dietary plans, with 13 pickup locations.
Q. What goes in each bag?
A. I start with a theme and put things in the bag around that theme that are in season. The customers really like this pizza package we put together each August, which is five pounds of canning tomatoes so they can make their own tomato sauce, basil, frozen pizza dough made by a local bakery, a pound of Italian sausage, a half pound of mozzarella cheese, and onions, green peppers and hot peppers.
Q. What are the biggest benefits?
A. Quality and freshness. ... The second is variety. I hear it all the time from parents who are thrilled that their kids are eating vegetables and foods that they would have never thought of buying.
Q. What's in Fresh Fork's future?
A. One of the ultimate goals that I have is that Fresh Fork becomes a supply-chain solution for others, so people don't have to come to our 13 locations [to pick up their food] — they can go to any grocery store and get local products.
