WHY BUY LOCAL?

Food grown in our own community was most-likely picked within the past day or two. It’s crisp, sweet and loaded with flavor. Produce flown or trucked-in from California, Florida, Chile or Holland is, quite understandably, much older. On average, food travels nearly 1,500 miles from a farm to your plate. During its week-long (or longer) delay from harvest to dinner table, sugars turn to starches, plant cells shrink, and produce loses its vitality.

Fresh produce loses nutrients quickly. Food that is frozen or canned soon after harvest is actually more nutritious than some “fresh” produce that has been on a truck or supermarket shelf for a week. Locally grown food, purchased soon after harvest, retains its nutrients at a much higher rate than produce that has traveled a distance.

In the modern industrial agricultural system, plant varieties are chosen for their ability to ripen simultaneously and withstand harvesting equipment – for a tough skin that can survive packing and shipping – and for an ability to have a long shelf life in the store. Only a handful of hybrid varieties of each fruit and vegetable meet those rigorous demands, so there is little genetic diversity in the plants grown. Local farms, in contrast, grow a huge number of varieties to provide a long season of harvest, an array of eye-catching colors, and the best flavors. Many varieties are heirlooms passed down from generation to generation because they taste good. These old varieties contain genetic material from hundreds, or even thousands, of years of human selection and may, someday, provide the genes needed to create varieties that will thrive in a changing climate.

With fewer than 1 million Americans now claiming farming as their primary occupation, farmers are a vanishing breed. And no wonder – commodity prices are at historic lows, often below the cost of production. The farmer now gets less than 10 cents of the retail food dollar. Local farmers who sell direct to consumers cut out the middleman and get full retail price for their food – which means farm families can afford to stay on the farm, doing the work they love.

When you buy direct from the farmer, you are re-establishing a time-honored connection between the eater and the grower. Knowing the farmer gives you insight into the seasons, the weather, and the miracle of raising food. In many cases, it gives you access to a farm where your children and grandchildren can go to learn about nature and agriculture. Relationships built on understanding and trust can thrive.

As the value of direct-marketed fruits and vegetables increases, selling farmland for development becomes less likely. You have probably enjoyed driving out into the country and appreciated the lush fields of crops, the meadows full of wildflowers, the picturesque red barns. That landscape will survive only as long as farms are financially viable. When you buy locally grown food, you are doing something proactive about preserving the agricultural landscape.

Farms contribute more in taxes than they require in services, whereas suburban development often costs more than it generates in taxes. On average, for every $1 in revenue raised by residential development, governments must spend $1.17 on services, thus requiring higher taxes of all taxpayers. For each dollar of revenue raised by a farm, forest, or open space, governments spend 34 cents on services.

A well-managed family farm is a place where the resources of fertile soil and clean water are valued. Good stewards of the land grow cover crops to prevent erosion and replace nutrients used by their crops. Cover crops also capture carbon emissions and help combat global warming. According to some estimates, farmers who practice conservation tillage could sequester 12-14% of the carbon emitted by vehicles and industry. In addition, the habitat of a farm – the patchwork of fields, meadows, woods, ponds, and buildings – is the perfect environment for many beloved species of wildlife, including bluebirds, killdeer, herons, bats, and rabbits.

By supporting local farmers today, you can help ensure that there will be farms in your community tomorrow, and that future generations will have access to nourishing, flavorful, and abundant food.