Now most consumers head to the supermarket for their groceries, but locally grown food is having a revival as people are becoming concerned with supporting the local economy, eating natural foods or remembering another time.

Now, mom can meet the person who fed the cow, grew the corn or churned the butter that’s on the dinner table. Local producers and farmer’s markets provide several types of food for families.

Whether you are looking for just one item, or deciding to feed your entire family, there are several outlets to buy from within 60 miles of Temple.

Dairy

Milk is more than an accompaniment to cookies at Sand Creek Farms. Here raw cow milk is sold solo and used in a number of products. Yogurt, ice cream and butter are a few of the items customers can order online from this family-run farm.

The Godfrey family didn’t expect to become farmers when they moved to Cameron. Instead, they wanted to become homesteaders, to live in the country, raise their daughters and provide a sustainable living.

Nutrient dense food is a main concern for Ben Godfrey. The farm is free of soy and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) while the beef is grass-fed and grain-free. Soy shouldn’t be used because it can create acid in the cow’s stomach; GMOs can be spread into neighboring pastures, Godfrey said.

“Most of our customers are foodies or food aficionados and we’re learning a lot from them about food nutrients,” Godfrey said.

He learned about the Slow Food Movement, which is a response to fast food diets, after speaking at an Austin chapter meeting.

“They have a lot of similar values as we have and the same reasoning,” he said. “Some of our customers are Slow Food members.”

Godfrey believes protein is the farm’s specialty. This protein can be found in the beef, lamb, pork and beef sausage items offered. Chickens and eggs are also available, but only during the spring and the fall.

Customers can view products online at www.sandcreekfarm.net and order via e-mail. Customers will receive exact pounds of items with prices. All orders must be placed before 6 a.m. on Monday to be filled that week.

Flour

Homestead Heritage is a non-denominational Christian community outside Waco that produces several types of food and household items.

“We believe in living a simple lifestyle close to the land,” general manager Kevin Durkin said. “So, of course, that means growing our own food and we like to share that with other people.”

The Homestead Deli is where the sharing occurs. Here, visitors can lunch on cheese, beef and other products grown on the premises.

Located in a rustic building behind the deli is a circa-1760 gristmill where grain and corn are ground. Next to the mill, customers can buy items such as pancake mix, popcorn, cereal and gluten-free flour.

Durkin believes food recalls of late are due to industrialized food production. He believes that eating locally is important because you know who’s making the food.

“When it becomes industrialized there’s no sense of personal responsibility. There’s not a local relationship,” he said.

Homestead Heritage isn’t all business; it’s also a school. Visitors can learn to make their own cheese, grow their own organic garden and tend their livestock - it teaches others how to make their own homesteads.

“We’re not so interested in raising food and selling it to people,” Durkin said. “We’re more interested in teaching people how to live their own sustainable lives.”

Homestead Heritage’s web site is www.homesteadheritage.com.

Cheese

Sam Simon owns and runs the Texas Cheese House in Lorena.

Simon decided to make his own cheese four years ago after realizing retirement wasn’t for him.

“I was getting tired of store-bought cheese and thought I could do something better because I knew better existed,” Simon said. He taught himself using the Internet and books.

His store is based off the general stores of his childhood where patrons could try the cheese before they bought it.

Refrigerators line a wall in the back of his store. He pulls open the white door of a “cheeserator,” as he calls them, to reveal different varieties of cheese undergoing the aging process.

Simon uses hormone-free dairy products from Oak Farms in Waco to make his cheese. The cheeses that aren’t made by Simon are mainly from Texas companies.

“I really got excited when I found out that there is good cheese in Texas and I decided I needed to tell people,” he explains the focus on Texas companies.

Besides cheese, Simon makes homemade bread that he uses for lunch items that can be bought in his store. His meat and cheese basket consists of a quarter pound of sausage and a quarter pound of the cheese of your choice, mustard that he makes himself, homemade bread and grapes.

Simon makes homemade white, whole wheat, garlic, cinnamon and rosemary bread. Homemade desserts are on the menu, including brownies and scones.

Customers may call 254-655-4217 or order online at www.texascheesehouse.com.

Wine

Proft Vineyards near Gatesville sells grapes for home winemakers. Bob Proft, owner and grower, planted his first test plot when no other vineyards were in the area.

Every summer his phone rings with inquiries and orders in anticipation of the harvest. When August rolls around, customers come calling on harvest day to pick up their fresh grapes that will be used for winemaking or jams and jellies.

Proft isn’t making a fortune off his small vineyard. The last three years have been difficult because of drought and floods, he said.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever make a penny off of it,” he said. “But I enjoy the people that come out for harvest immensely.”

Proft sees the struggles of small farmers and believes buying locally is a healthy way to support the community.

“These folks are sometimes barely making it,” he said. “They barely scrape by.”

Learn about the vineyard and the grapes at www.proftvineyards.com.

Beef

When Ted and Pat Stevens of Stevens Creek Ranch moved to the country they wanted a retreat, not a ranch.

But after learning from neighboring ranchers the nutritional value of eating grass-raised cattle, they were intrigued. Not able to find a source for grass-fed cattle at the time, the Stevens decided to raise their own.

“We never intended to get into this for the money,” Pat Stevens said. “It became a necessity,”

Customers are thankful for the Red Poll cattle found at the ranch. The Stevens have encountered several people able to only eat grass-fed cattle because of soy and corn allergies; products usually fed to cows.

Pat Stevens is passionate about the nutrients found in grass-fed cattle compared to grain-fed.

“It’s like a Snickers and an apple,” she said, comparing the nutritional values. She said meat found at the supermarket is deficient in nutrients because the cows were raised on rations of genetically modified food.

According to eatwild.com, grass-fed beef has less total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and calories than those raised on feedlots.

The Stevens will have lamb and pasteurized pork available in the spring.

For information, visit stevenscreekranch.com.

Produce

Temple and Belton host farmer’s markets where local farmers bring fresh produce to sell.

Temple’s farmer’s market is on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 212 S. Main St. Belton’s is on Saturdays at 8 a.m. at the corner of Central and Penelope St.

Arrive early for the best choices. The markets begin to close around September or October, depending on the season.

Whether the choice to eat locally is a lifestyle or occasional, the opportunities are endless in central Texas.

bmcclane@temple-telegram.com