Eating Local
6
Reasons to
Eat Local Foods
1. FRESH AND TASTY
Produce that is purchased in the supermarket
often has been in transit or cold-stored for days
or weeks, while produce from your local farmer’s
market or farm-gate has often been picked within
24 hours of your purchase. This freshness not only
affects the taste of your food, but the nutritional
value. Locally grown fruits and vegetables are often allowed longer to ripen, because they do not
have to be “rugged” or to stand up to the rigors
of shipping, and so can be handled less. (You are
going to be getting peaches so ripe that they fall
apart as you eat them!).
6 | fullplatemag.com
tip:
Go back to the same farmers
market or farm stand regularly
and get to know the people who
are selling their locally-grown
veggies, fruits, grains,
breads, pasta, etc.
2. SUPPORTING FARMERS
By buying locally grown food you’ll be strengthening your community by investing your food dollar
close to home. Only 18 cents of every dollar, when
buying at a large supermarket, go to the grower.
82 cents go to various unnecessary middlemen.
Cut them out of the picture and buy your food
directly from your local farmer.
3. IN TOUCH WITH THE SEASONS
By eating with the seasons, we are eating foods
when they are at their most flavorsome, are the
most abundant, and the least expensive.
4. KNOW THE STORY
Whether it’s the farmer who brings local apples
to market or the baker who makes local bread,
knowing part of the story about your food is such
a powerful part of enjoying a meal.
5. SAVING ENERGY
Supporting local food systems generally means
less energy, emissions and food miles associated
with our food. An average shopping basket of 29
common food items traveled over 44,000 miles—
that’s nearly two times the distance around the
Earth. Just four imported items accounted for
nearly 30,000 miles.
6. INVESTING IN THE FUTURE
Our present industrialized food system involving
transporting food long distances is dependent on
the artificially low energy prices that come with
‘cheap oil’. This will not last forever. World oil
production has already peaked, according to some
estimates, and while demand for energy continues
to grow, supply will soon start dwindling, sending
the price of energy (and food) through the roof.
Why wait to re-evaluate our food systems when
we are forced to, when we can start to build resilient local economies now by supporting energy
efficient agricultural methods, like smaller-scale organic agriculture, and local production?
winter edition | 7