The local foods movement is catching on. The US Department of Agriculture says sales of “local foods” are now worth billions of dollars to the nation’s economy. A USDA report found that locally produced foods sold directly to consumers at farmers markets or through grocers amounted to $4.8 billion in 2008. That number is several times greater than earlier estimates.

And the Agriculture Department predicts that locally grown foods will generate $7 billion in sales this year. The report also found that direct sales to consumers almost doubled in the past two decades, from about $650 million adjusted for inflation in the early 1990s to about $1.2 billion now.