Why consume local food?

From thegrownetwork

Why Does Local Food Matter?

Here are 10 reasons why you should consider putting more local produce in your diet right away:

  1. Supports Local Farms: Buying local keeps local farms healthy and creates local jobs at farms and in nearby food processing and distribution systems.
  2. Boosts Local Economy: Food dollars spent at local farms and food producers stay in the local economy, creating more jobs at other local businesses.
  3. Less Travel: Local food travels much less distance to market than typical fresh or processed grocery store foods, therefore using less fuel and generating less greenhouse gases.
  4. Less Waste: Because of the shorter distribution chains for local foods, less food is wasted in distribution, warehousing, and merchandising.
  5. More Freshness: Local food is fresher, healthier and tastes better, because it spends less time in transit from farm to plate, and therefore loses fewer nutrients and incurs less spoilage.
  6. New and Better Flavors in Each Season: When you commit to buy more local food, you’ll discover interesting new foods, tasty new ways to prepare food, and a new appreciation of the pleasure of each season’s foods.
  7. Good for the Gene Pool and the Soil: Local food encourages diversification of local agriculture which preserves genetic diversity and reduces the reliance on monoculture – single crops grown over a wide area to the detriment of soils.
  8. Attracts Tourists: Local foods promote agri-tourism — farmers markets and opportunities to visit farms and local food producers help draw tourists to a region.
  9. Preserves Open Space: Buying local food helps local farms survive and thrive, keeping land from being redeveloped into suburban sprawl.
  10. Builds More Connected Communities: Local foods create more vibrant communities by connecting people with the farmers and food producers who bring them healthy local foods. As customers of CSAs and farmers markets have discovered, they are great places to meet and connect with friends as well as farmers!

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