One of my favorite Saturday activities is going to the farmers market. Wherever I live, I love to go meet farmers in person who have put their heart and soul into growing the food that goes onto my plate.
To be considered locally grown food, it is often considered as food that is grown or processed within 100 miles from the farmer and the consumer. This includes fruits, vegetables, dairy products, eggs, and meat. Buying local food is not only a great way to help out with the environment, but also comes with many additional benefits for your health, the local economy, as well as your community.
Environmental Benefits:
- Reducing Carbon Footprint to Transport Food: According to researcher Rich Pirog at Iowa State University, the average piece of produce travels 1,500 miles. The more food that has to be imported from other states or countries, the more fossil fuels are consumed. Buying local food reduces the distance food travels from farm to consumer, creating a reduction on air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions to reduce your carbon footprint.
- Eating Seasonal Food rather than Out of Season: Having foods when there in season means less demand from having them sent overseas during out of season periods. Adjust your diet according to what is in season for your area to help reduce the demand of importing food from overseas when they can be grown locally.
- Preserves Genetic Diversity and Green Space: When producing crops on a large scale, it usually requires only using certain genetic strands in order for them to last longer or look a certain way by the time it gets to the consumer. Many small scale farms aren’t limited and try to use a range of genetic strands to preserve not only genetic diversity, but biodiversity as well.
- Often Pesticide Free: Getting organic certifications can have high costs small farms aren’t able to afford, but many local farms do use minimal or no pesticide. Meanwhile, many large scale farms require using pesticides in order to control pest maintenance or preserve their food. Eating locally means less exposure to unnecessary chemicals, and if you aren’t sure if the farmer uses pesticides, just ask them directly!
Health Benefits:
- Preservative Free: When grown at a large scale, food may be sprayed with chemicals in order for food to last to travel long distances. Or when imported, they are often picked early and then artificially “ripened” with ethylene gas once it reaches its destination. Since food is generally picked 24 hours before selling at local farms, no chemicals are needed to preserve freshness for less exposure to unnecessary chemicals.
- More Nutritious and Flavorful: The less time between harvest and reaching the consumer, the more likely the food’s nutrient value is still in tact as it is picked at the peak of ripeness. One example is a study from Montclair State University which found that broccoli that was imported out of season only retained half of its Vitamin C value compared to broccoli grown in season. Also with less chemical exposure means foods tasting better due to their freshness.
- More Well-Balanced Diet: Having locally grown food with less chemicals could help reduce any digestion issues and help you to incorporate a more healthy, balance diet versus a processed, packaged diet.
- Improve Food Safety: Food safety, especially in a time like COVID-19, has become increasingly important. Imported food can pass through different hands, trucks, crates, and borders before it reaches you to increase risk of contamination. Buying local has less processing steps in between to help reduce food’s contamination risk.
Economic Benefits
- Keep Money Within the Community: Choosing local food means supporting and keeping money within the community, and to help local businesses prosper.
- Local Farmers Keep More Profit: Keeping food local means reducing costs to transport and distribute food, helping them keep profits to have their business thrive.
- Create Jobs: Supporting local farms helps to stimulate jobs within your community and help the local economy.
- Support Other Local Businesses: When you go out to eat, support local businesses and restaurants that get their supplies from local farmers to keep business and farming more local to boost the economy.
Community Benefit:
- Preserving Small Farms: As small farms are able to maintain profits, they are less likely to sell land to developers. Preserving small farms means keeping farming practices that support sustainable agricultural practices, as well as help foster biodiversity for animals and bugs to live and thrive. Many of these small farms are also family run, and supporting locals can help keep family traditions going and support family development.
- Bringing the Community Together: Buying from those locally gives the opportunity to get to know the growers, and to build relationships with community members to bring the community together.
- Knowing where your food comes from: Getting food locally can give a better understanding of where and how your food is produced. This can help to encourage more sustainable practices within local farms rather than resource intensive methods from commercial agriculture. You may be able to visit the farms yourself and pick your own produce, too!
- Putting Power to Your Money: As people are getting more concerned about how food is being produced, buying local can support those whom’s farming practices you believe in.
- Improve Well-Being: It’s a great feeling of satisfaction knowing that your actions to choose local are helping your community, economy, and the environment, giving the great feeling of knowing your purchase is making a difference.
Where to Buy Locally Grown Food:
- Farmers Markets: Many towns and counties have farmers market that may occur once or twice a week. You can search via the web if there is once in the area, use the locator from Local Harvest, or the farmers market directory from USDA.
- Community Supported Agricultural Programs (CSAs): Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs) are programs community members can join by paying a share to help local farmers grow their food while having access to seasonal produce. Local Harvest provides more information on CSAs as well as where to find local CSAs and tips for for choosing CSAs.
- Events, Gleaning, and Stands: Some farms give the experience to pick your own produce by paying a fee to pick in the fields. Another form of this is gleaning where people can come pick remaining crops when the farm has completed harvesting. Some farmers set up stands on the side of the road so if you see someone selling on the side of the road, pull over and see what they have to offer!
- See if your Grocery Store Sells Local Food: Many grocery stores, including Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Co-ops work hard to buy produce that is local to their store location. You can check out the Co-op Directory to see if there is a co-op near you, or ask your grocery store what local food they sell in their store.
- Grow it Yourself: Nothing is more local than walking into your backyard and picking your own produce! If you have the space, you can make raised beds to grow produce in or even raise your own chickens. It’s a great way to past the time as well as feel accomplished growing your own food.
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