Why eat local foods?

A poster with a succinct idea concerning the why of local foods at yesterday's Farmer's Market (an especially pastoral picture captioned, HOMELAND SECURITY — Eat local foods), made me remember the Tufts University Food Awareness Project data:

"The average mouthful of food in the U.S. travels 1300 miles before it is finally eaten!"

At this Midsummer season of rising fuel and transport costs, buying from your local farmer will not only be more nutritious but less expensive, especially when you consider the environmental and social costs associated with eating non-locally grown foods.

Five Good Reasons to Shop at your Local Farmer's Market

1. Local growers often use fewer pesticides than large commercial farms. This avoids polluting water supplies, is healthier for the environment, and reduces human health risk.
2. Nutrients are lost during travel or storage time, therefore local foods tend to be more nutrient-dense.
3. Because it is eaten soon after harvesting, local produce often does not need added wax, other preservatives, or chemical ripening agents.
4. A healthy local food system including small family farms, helps create a thriving local economy. Buying produce locally help these farms survive and thrive into the future.
5. Transporting food a few miles instead of thousands reduces fossil fuel emissions that contribute to air pollution, acid rain and global warming as well as effecting final food prices and quality.

Contributing Author Lynn Cameron owns the AromaVital.com website and has conducted her own research into the complementary health field since the early seventies.

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1 Comment for "Why eat local foods?"

1. Diane Vigil
   Comment posted on 06/21/08 @ 2:07 pm

   Thanks, Lynn. I'd add, too, that food from local farmers likely doesn't require being picked green, refrigeration for a long trip, etc. It pretty much comes straight from the farm to you. Or me.

   Here are some pictures from our farmer's market here in Santa Clarita (north Los Angeles) — and these aren't stock photography. They were taken with our own camera.

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