Over the last year, media outlets far and wide have reported on America’s newfound desire to stay home and eat local.

Most recently, the New York Times published this story about Slow Food USA’s decision to host Slow Food Nation, a party for 50,000 people in San Francisco on Labor Day weekend.

Here in Memphis, locavores of all ages have a dizzying array of options and activities to choose from.

For a minimal time investment, start your epicurean staycation by connecting directly with area farmers by shopping for super-fresh produce (and some meats and cheeses) at area farmers markets, including the Memphis Farmers Market, the Agricenter’s Farmers Market, and the Farmers Market at the Memphis Botanic Garden. Be sure to bring small bills (these guys are cash only, and they can’t always change a $20), and a cloth shopping bag to carry your goods home.

Or you can make a real outing of it by picking your own fruits and veggies at Millington’s Jones Orchard (peaches, nectarines, and blackberries are currently in season) or at the Nesbit Blueberry Plantation in North Mississippi. Arrive prepared to pick, with water, sunscreen and buckets or bags to hold your bounty.

“Kids are becoming more and more removed from rural settings, and they don’t know much about farming anymore,” says Jones Orchard matriarch Juanita Jones. “I really like to see young families have a hands-on experience out here, teaching their children that fruit grows on trees, not in a grocery store. And nothing tastes better than freshly-picked fruit!”

For less than a tank of gas, you can take the entire family on a field trip to Whitton Flower and Produce, which is located just outside Tyronza Arkansas, or to Downing Hollow Farm in Olive Hill, Tennessee.

When you’re dining out this month, opt for Memphis restaurants that serve homegrown ingredients, like Jarrett’s, which has a Tennessee smoked trout ravioli on the menu, or the Inn at Hunt Phelan, Interim, and Collierville’s Tennessean restaurant, which all serve local produce and Neola Farm’s Black Angus Beef.

Or, take those ingredients you’ve picked yourself and expand your culinary skills by signing up for the Memphis Botanic Garden’s Taste of the Garden demonstration series, or a class at the Viking Cooking School, which is located at Park Place Mall.

Of course, this staycation is about much more than food: Family traditions, social habits, and economics all tie in to what – and why – we eat.

Atlanta chef/cookbook author Scott Peacock just wrote a meditative essay on fresh shelled peas, explaining,

“As a young child, I looked forward to field pea season with enthusiasm – and not just because it signaled the arrival of so many good things to eat. It also provided an escape from the sweltering Alabama heat, as my mother's ‘shelling bees’ were an air-conditioned affair.” Before this summer ritual commenced, the braided Sears, Roebuck rug in our den was rolled up, and the window unit turned to its coldest setting. Grandmothers and great-grandmothers from both sides of the family sat in a circle, their laps cradling roasting pans and Tupperware bowls filled with the harvest brought from our farm in bushel baskets. Sharing gossip and wisdom to pass the time, they nimbly shelled for hours, tossing the empty hulls into a large galvanized washtub in the center of the room. Not yet in grade school, I apprenticed at their feet, captivated by their stories and chasing the occasional errant pea as it rolled across the floor. This nostalgic scene, in one version or another, is no doubt familiar to many a Southerner – particularly those of a certain age. But seriously, when was the last time you sat in a shelling circle?”

Luckily, for us Memphians, it’s not too late.

For more on Memphis’ locavore culture, contact Slow Food Memphis, peruse a copy of Edible Memphis magazine, or read local food blog Squirrel Squad Squeeks.