Why Buy Local?

The Benefits of Eating Locally Produced Food

Farm to table dining has become a global culinary trend that’s inspiring chefs, farmers, and local producers while offering a myriad of benefits that touch every aspect of our lives. Eating locally-sourced food has the potential to make a world of difference in our enjoyment of life, our health, the environment, our local communities, and even our economic well being.

Food procured from local farms is preferred by discerning chefs because of its culinary superiority. Farm fresh carrots, for example, are a symphony of sweetness, crispness, juiciness, and earthy flavor; like many vegetables, they are a world away from the typical corporate grocery store variety. Farmers markets and small scale farms offer unique varieties of fruits and veggies presenting a rainbow of colors and flavors that ignite culinary inspiration.

Corporate farms grow produce varieties selected for their uniformity in size and color and their potential to spend a lot of time in boxes and to ship hundreds of miles before they are consumed. This means they must be less soft and juicy and therefore less flavorful. The difference is stunning in foods like tomatoes, cucumbers, and berries.

Embracing a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle is simple when the fruits and veggies are locally procured and abundant in flavor. Whole foods that is are in season and recently harvested - which is what you will find at local farms and markets - have proven health benefits. They contain more of the micronutrients that nature intended for us to eat in order to keep our bodies and minds healthy.

Discovering the vivid array of locally-sustainably produced food available goes far beyond enhancing our physical wellbeing and delighting our palates. Biodiversity makes our food systems more resilient.

Monocropping, the practice of growing one crop on a large scale, has proliferated the use of pesticides, herbicides, and an unnecessary and wasteful excess of supplemental water; it’s not an efficient or sustainable method of producing food. It has contributed to climate change, dwindling diversity in food crop species, the erosion of local economies, diminishing wildlife, and even the fading of cultural traditions in areas where small farms have been completely replaced by corporate farming. Supporting small farms helps tackle these issues, paving the way for a more sustainable future.

Buying from local producers results in fewer emissions and less pollution by reducing transport and packaging. This not only helps to mitigate climate change but also preserves natural resources like clean air and water.

Choosing to buy local strengthens our regional economies. By investing in small businesses, we create and sustain opportunities for entrepreneurs and living wage jobs within our communities This ultimately helps to mitigate the problems of both concentration of wealth among the few and increasing poverty among the working class. A proliferation of small farms within local regions has a long reaching impact on creating more resilient and just local economies.

Sourcing local fosters a stronger connection within communities. It allows individuals to learn about the journey of our food from seed to plate. Transparency about how our food is grown and the farming practices employed promotes trust and increases accountability within the community. It empowers us to make informed decisions about what we put on our plates.

When we embrace local food systems we are nurturing a more sustainable interconnected society and a brighter future for all. Together, we can make a difference.

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