Americans are rediscovering the benefits to supporting their local growers.
In the last 10 years Americans have seen a boom in local food markets
and for good reason. While Americans continue to buy more fast food,
they still expect perfect ingredients and they are finding them.
So why are they turning to their local markets more and more? In a
nutshell they want fresh, healthy produce with great flavor. There are
numerous other benefits to buying local products and it would seem
Americans are now rediscovering what their local growers have to offer.
FRESHER
Care for fresher ingredients? Locally grown items are usually harvested
1 or 2 days before hitting the market making them significantly fresher
then traditional store bought ingredients. For those folks lucky enough
to live in rural areas, many of your local ingredients may be available
to you the same day they are harvested. Produce flown in from other
parts of the country or world is considerably older given that on
average they travel 1,500 miles to get to your dinner table. These
products may be harvested before they are ripe because of the delay in
getting the product to market. Given that produce loses nutrients
quickly, a recently harvested crop is preferred for its ripeness alone.
SAFER
Local food is often safer, too. Even when it’s not organically grown,
small farms tend to be less aggressive than large factory farms about
using chemicals. While biotechnology companies have long been
experimenting with genetically altered produce, small local farmers do
not have access to these seeds and most would not use them even if they
did have access to these seeds. For those consumers opposed to using
genetically altered produce, locally grown produce will offer the best
product.
BUILDS COMUNITY
When you go to a local market you get a chance to see the grower and
talk to them eye-to-eye. You get to see their reaction when you ask
them if the use chemicals. You get to see how proud they are of what
their hard work has produced. And you get to see that happiness in
their eyes when you support their farm with a purchase. This
opportunity to meet the growers in person goes a long way in creating a
sense of community and maintaining tradition in addition to supporting
local growers financially.
BENEFITS OPEN SPACE & LOWER TAX DOLLAR SPENDING
As we have become wrapped up in the conveniences of the corner grocer,
we seem to have forgotten how valuable our farmers are to our local
communities. If you grew up in a rural area, you most likely remember
the vast open space and picturesque countryside the crops created. As
long as the small local farms exist this open space will not be
developed into commercial property. Why is this important? Aside from
maintaining the beautiful landscape, it is also most cost effective for
the region, supports a cleaner environment and affords wildlife a
greatly desirable sanctuary.
On average almost four times as much tax revenue is spent on services
for a residential area then is spent on services for farms, forest or
open space. For instance for every $1 collected in taxes from a
residential area, almost $1.20 is spent on services to support that
area. Conversely, only $.34 is spent to support rural area for each
dollar collected. Because farms contribute more taxes then they require
in services, local farmers make for a surplus in tax revenue. In
addition to the lower cost needed to support rural areas, they also
help to clean 12-14% of the carbon emitted by vehicles and industry.
By continuing to support local growers today, you are ensuring that
they will be around tomorrow. In fact more and more non-chain grocers
are carrying locally grown products. They must, it’s what consumers are
demanding.
Try buying local flavors. You have nothing to lose and so much to gain.
