PROVIDENCE — Picture yourself sitting down to a restaurant meal made with local fruits, vegetables and meats. Or easily finding food artisans, caterers or shops that sell homegrown Rhode Island foods.

Then, at the end, imagine paying with “Fresh Bucks.”

That could become a reality with the Rhode Island Fresh Network, a new marketing campaign aimed at promoting local chefs and food businesses.

The program will create a print and Internet dining guide listing restaurants, caterers and other food retailers who sell local, organic and fair-trade foods. The guides should be completed by May and distributed to hotels, markets and visitor centers.

It will also start a local currency/gift certificate called “Fresh Bucks.” The $10 and $5 tokens will be available in June, for use at local restaurants, retail stores and farmers’ markets.

Farm Fresh Rhode Island, a nonprofit group dedicated to bringing local food to the public, unveiled the program and its bright tomato logo yesterday at Brown University. More than 100 farmers, business and restaurant owners were present for the fourth annual Local Food Forum.

“It’s more grounded and it’s more personal,” said Noah Fulmer, executive director of Farm Fresh Rhode Island. “It really goes back to supporting the community and growing the local economy, as opposed to losing money to big-box stores.”

The ultimate goal is to bring greater recognition to local food businesses and move toward a more sustainable food system.

The idea for the network grew out of many phone requests Farm Fresh Rhode Island received from people asking where to find local foods in restaurants and catering companies, Fulmer said.

Another part of the Rhode Island Fresh Network is to provide an opportunity for farmers, restaurants and other food businesses to come together and forge new connections.

One common problem many farmers and restaurant owners mentioned at the forum was transporting food. To help, the network will list food-delivery information for markets and schools on the Internet so farmers and other businesses can combine their resources.

The tomato logo can be used for window displays, menus and local product packaging.

Daniel King, owner of The Up River Café and Cocktail Bar in Westerly, is interested in the network. His café gets produce from three local farmers and serves a signature dish made from local foods.

“Anything that strengthens community I’m 100 percent behind,” King said.

The Rhode Island Fresh Network also appeals to Carol DeFeciani, co-owner of The Liberty Elm, a Providence coffeehouse/juice bar/garden center that will open in April.

DeFeciani said that having a local marketing campaign in stores and restaurants could eliminate the “disconnect between people eating food and growing food.”

Some farmers said the network could benefit them, too.

Heather Minto, co-owner of Watson Farm in Jamestown, said the network could best serve farmers with food distribution. She said there should be a centralized “pipeline” connecting farmers with restaurants that are interested in buying local foods.

Minto, who runs a cattle and lamb farm, would also like to persuade chefs to use whole animals instead of certain meat cuts.

In the future, Farm Fresh Rhode Island will look into creating a year-round indoor farmers’ market and a centralized food-distribution center with a warehouse, kitchen and vegetable oil collection center for biofuels.

For now, the group’s focus is on the network. “We’re hoping the tomato will be pervasive,” Fulmer said.

For more information, contact Farm Fresh Rhode Island at (401) 863-6509 or visit www.farmfreshri.org.

Michelle J. Lee is a fellow with the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting.

mlee@projo.com