Shipping is a terrible thing to do to vegetables.
They probably get jet-lagged, just like people.
~Elizabeth Berry
Here are some quick benefits of eating locally:
- Fruits and vegetables are fresher. They haven’t been picked early, then transported for days or weeks, then sprayed and eventually make their way to the store. Locally, they’re picked and sold usually within 24-48 hours of your purchasing them.
- They taste better. Ever have a strawberry or tomato straight off the vine? Need I say anything else?!
- Local foods have a higher nutritional value since they’re fresher than those that have been picked, shipped, packaged and can take weeks before they even hit your plate
- Buying local food allows us to eat by the seasons. We get to enjoy those foods when they are at their peak taste are the most abundant-not to mention the least expensive. Have you seen how much strawberries are when they’re shipped from somewhere else during off season.
- You can reconnect with your food. Something about going to a U-pick or seeing where your food comes from brings you closer to it and you appreciate the value, taste of it more than grabbing a plastic container of fruit shipped from some other country at your local grocer.
- It environmentally friendly to eat locally since it cuts down on carbon exhaust via shipping containers via cargo ships, trains, trucks, etc. There’s also no need for packaging waste when you purchase locally grown foods.
- Buying locally also helps support your local economy.
A note: Just because a local farmers goods may not be certified organic does not mean they’re not organic. Many small farmers cannot pay the price of being certified organic. When you’re at the market, ask them about their growing procedures if organic is important to you. Even if the foods aren’t organic, many times they are still better than the shipped in organic produce & veggies you get at a big chain grocery.
If you don’t know where any farmers markets are in your area, visit http://www.localharvest.org and do a search by your zip code.
100 Mile Diet has made it easy to show what’s within the 100 miles of your location.
You can also find more information on these sites:
http://www.slowfoodusa.org
http://www.sustainabletable.org
http://www.organicconsumers.org
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org
http://www.ucsaction.org
