There are so many awesome reasons to eat locally -- for your health, the environment, and your community.
First, eating locally means dollars stay in your community. I love being able to support local businesses and this is a great way I can do that, by spending my food dollars in my community. This also means you are not getting foods from halfway around the world. Think about that for a minute. If you are getting fruits from Argentina (and I love Argentina, don’t get me wrong!) and you live in the US, how many miles has that food has traveled to get to you? And not only that, how old is it once you receive it? This also means the cost to get the food to you is higher, not to mention the added pollution to the air from transporting the food. Eating locally means your food is safer and most likely cleaner to eat. The closer you can be to eating food directly from the earth, where it came from, the better it is for you. The fewer hands (trucks, pallets, etc) that touch your food before it enters your body, means it is less likely to acquire contaminants, etc. (I do recommend speaking to your local farmer to make sure they farm organically and without the use of pesticides and herbicides.)
Eating locally means eating in season, and this is so healthy for our bodies. Eating what grows in our particular area during the season we are in means food is so much more flavorful, fresh, and still has more of its nutrients. This means our bodies are receiving food in its prime state, which in turn leads to receiving more and higher quality nutrients into our system.
Eating locally means bringing community together. Farmers Markets are the prime example of this. What a fun weekly event to attend!
Find your local farmers. Reach out and ask if you can visit the farm, see what’s going, how they run their operation, and if they offer a CSA. Make sure they farm organically and let them know you want to support local farmers! They will be so encouraged, and you might get the inside scoop on extras they may sell at wholesale (think canning tomatoes or making lots of jam!). Your body will thank you for it!
Cura te,
Jenny
