Written by Marketing Intern Nandini Kavuri
1. Taste and freshness: Locally grown food tastes better because it is freshly picked and is not packaged. Fruits and vegetables shipped from distant states and countries can spend as many as seven to fourteen days in transit before they arrive in the supermarket. This freshness not only affects the taste of the food, but also the nutritional content.
2. Strengthen your local economy: Buying local food keeps your dollars circulating in your community.
3. Support family farms: More than one million acres of farmland are lost to residential and commericial development each year in the United States. By purchasing local foods, you are helping local farmers to stay on their land and thrive economically. A recent study in Maine showed that shifting just one percent of consumer expenditures to the purchase of local food products would increase farmers' income by at least five percent. Also, eating locally allows you to form valuable relationships with the people who grow your food.
4. Safeguard your family's health: Food that has less distance to travel has less susceptibility to contamination.
5. Protect the environment: On average, most supermarket foods travel about 1,500 miles to get to your plate. Buying food locally eases our dependence on oil, helps clean up the air, and reduces greenhouse gases.
6. Greater variety: You can also find greater variety among locally grown foods, including heirloom fruits and vegetables that chain stores rarely stock.
Find a local Farmer's Market in your area and start buying locally grown food today! Visit http://www.simplesteps.org/eat-local/farmers-markets
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