Abstract
Six cooperators documented their local and distance food purchases between May 1, 2010 and July 31, 2011. For this study, local food was defined as food produced within Iowa. After 15 months of data collection, the data showed that: a) while the lowest 15-months average of local foods purchases among the participants was 14.3%, half of the participants spent less than the annual national average food expenditure, b) for all the participants, percentage of local foods purchases changed with the season. This change was different among participants, as their food habits impacted how their trend line shaped, c) the total food expenditure decreased as the percentage of local foods purchases increased, d) all the participants for this study had ties to a local food network in their community and practiced preserving, which helped them buy local produce.