I think people should look into what is grown in their states and encourage more of it.
Most people don’t think of Michigan as a big farming state but we rank first in something like 13 different crops (mostly for processed food like pickling cucumbers, tart cherries, baking apples etc) Greens and root crops grow very well here too. In fact one of the biggest mistakes I see gardeners make is not growing climate appropriate crops. I like tomatoes and I do grow them but I can’t count on them from year to year.
You're right. I grew up in southwestern Michigan, and the produce was wonderful. Every Saturday my Dad, who had lived through the scarcities of wartime Europe, would take me with him to the farmers' market. He could never get enough of fresh Michigan produce, and to this day at the age of 90, he keeps a small garden and delights in food shopping. We'd also go to nearby orchards, pick fresh apples, cherries, peaches and plums. The blueberry plantations offered buckets of berries, and on the way home we could stop to buy melons, honey, maple syrup and other goodies from roadside stands. Dad always hunted and fished, so we really enjoyed Michigan's bounty. My mother could find a way to cook or preserve just about anything that came into her kitchen. They attribute much of their long healthy life to this diet, and I don't doubt it a bit.
I now live in Pennsylvania, which is another agriculturally rich state. Our family belongs to a CSA farm, and we enjoy locally grown produce year-round. Right now, the greens are a bit scarce, as they're all from the hoop house. However, we've had some greens throughout the winter, in addition to cabbage, rutabaga, turnips, carrots, squash, and other produce which was harvested and stored late in the fall. It won't be long before we have fresh field greens again - yum!