Good Reasons To Buy Locally Grown Food

Local food is fresher and tastes better than food shipped long distances from other states or countries. Local farmers can offer produce varieties bred for taste and freshness rather than for shipping and long shelf life.

Buying local food keeps your dollars circulating in your community. Getting to know the farmers who grow your food builds relationships based on understanding and trust, the foundation of strong communities.

There's never been a more critical time to support endangered family farms. With each local food purchase, you ensure that more of your money spent on food goes to the farmer.

Knowing where your food comes from and how it is grown or raised enables you to choose safe food from farmers who avoid or reduce their use of chemicals, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, or genetically modified seed in their operations. Buy food from local farmers you trust.

Local food doesn't have to travel far so it's better for the environment. This reduces carbon dioxide emissions and packing materials. Buying local food also helps to make farming more profitable and selling farmland for development less attractive.

When you buy local food, you vote with your food dollar. This ensures that family farms in your community will continue to thrive and that healthy, flavorful, plentiful food will be available for future generations.

Source: FoodRoutes.org

Here's a list of sites to help you find a farmer, farmers' market, farm stand, or local food outlet near you:

www.foodroutes.org
www.localharvest.org