Reasons to buy local
Locally grown fresh food tastes better and is better for you.
Several studies have shown that the average distance food travels from farm to plate is 1,500 miles. During this time, sugars turn to starches, plant cells shrink, and produce loses its nutrients and vitality. However, food grown in your own community was probably picked within the past day or two--it's fresh, sweet and loaded with flavor.
Local food preserves genetic diversity.
Crop varieties that are able to withstand the rigors of industrial harvesting, packing and shipping, ripen simultaneously, and have a long shelf-life are limited, so there is little genetic diversity in the plants grown. Local farms, in contrast, grow a large number of varieties to provide a long season of harvest and the best flavors. The wide variety of crops species, including heirlooms containing genetic material that has survived for hundreds or even thousands of years may someday provide the genes needed to create varieties that will thrive in a changing climate.
Local food is not genetically modified.
Although biotechnology companies have been trying to commercialize genetically modified fruits and vegetables, they are primarily licensing them only to large industrial-style farms. Local farmers typically don't have access to genetically modified seed, and most of them wouldn't use it even if they could.
Local food preserves open space.
As the value of direct-marketed fruits and vegetables increases, selling farmland for development becomes less likely. Much of rural Colorado will survive as farm and ranchland only as long as farms and ranches are financially viable. When you buy locally grown food, you are doing something proactive about preserving the agricultural landscape.
Local food supports a clean environment and benefits wildlife.
A well-managed family farm or ranch is a place where the resources of fertile soil and clean water are valued. Good stewards of the land grow cover crops that prevent erosion and replace nutrients used by their crops. Cover crops also capture carbon emissions and help combat global warming. In addition, the patchwork of fields, meadows, woods, ponds and buildings - is the perfect environment for many beloved species of wildlife.
Local food is about the future
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.
(Content adapted from With an Ear to the Ground by Vern Grubinger.) |
