Thirty percent of Americans prefer to get fresh produce from farmers markets, according to a recent study done by the Colorado State University Extension Service. Seventy percent of Washington state residents said they would pay more for local produce, according to a survey commissioned by the Washington State Department of Agriculture. And yet less than 1 percent of Seattle-area produce sales occur at farmers markets, despite the city hosting a dozen farmers markets, with 30 throughout the surrounding county.

It would seem Americans are somehow disconnecting between what they want to do, and what they actually do. Perhaps some perspective can be shed upon this phenomenon through the observations of three experts who have examined attitudes toward local food systems in three very different regions of the world.

The European perspective is presented by Rick Steves, the famous travel expert who has visited countless local farmers markets, wine, cheese and olive-oil makers and restaurants specializing in food made with ingredients from the surrounding area, during his 18 years of reporting on what is happening in Europe.

The Pacific Island Perspective is presented by Dawn Neill, a nutritional anthropologist with a Ph.D. in biocultural anthropology and MS in nutritional sciences from the University of Washington.

And finally, the North American Perspective is presented by Michael Ableman, renowned farmer, author, photographer, and founder of the Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens in Goleta, California where he farmed from 1981 to 2001. It is one of the oldest organic farms in southern California.

To learn more about what these three experts have to say about local foods in these three very different parts of the world, buy the September/October edition of Touch the Soil magazine at a retail outlet or subscribe online.