Our planet, our cities, ourselves

I am an eco-warrior extraordinaire!  No really, in fact, my whole family has it all together when it comes to saving our planet.  Our “best green rated”, one car for a family of five, comes fully equipped with all our credentials on the bumper.  Everybody around knows we belong to the ‘Organic-tree hugging-green-sierra-amnesty-wildlife-save the farmers federations.  We walk or bike to local events and our little garden is organically grown and rain barrel watered.  We dress to the nines, all from thrift stores, not adding to the overly consumptive supply and demand world of fashion. I personally find great pleasure in reducing-reusing and recycling and each time I take a load of plastics and such to the bin I smugly remind myself, as an eco-warrior, I am worthy of such a title for all that I do for our planet. You would think through saving the world we would be contributing to our community but in fact, we are not, we could do more…we could buy local!

We do get a great amount of satisfaction out of our conservation efforts, this contributes to feel good hormones spilling around in our systems, reducing stress and adding years to our lives.  We eat a mostly vegetarian diet supplemented with an occasional cage free-cruelty free protein and buying organic versions of all, as much as possible.  We buy all these products from one place so why would I even think of “buying local”.  The mere thought of running around from produce stand to u-pick farms, egg and dairy farms is exhausting and where would I even begin to find these farms.  Our supermarket has suitable provisions even if much of their produce has been carted across the nation, if not parts of the world. What reasons would ever be good enough for us exert ourselves further? 

Top reasons to “buy local”

1. TASTE:  Who wants to eat what does not taste good?  I find when buying local produce I get a fresh product that is crisp and flavorful. In fact, if I don’t get around to using the product right away the shelf life is usually much longer than store bought and I have not had to consider the travel time, shipping and storage conditions of the product, because of this factor I can cut down on the frequency of visits to local farms.  Also many of these farms bring their product to our farmer’s markets so I can buy “direct” while getting to walk around in fresh air, with my own basket and introduced to many other local products I would not otherwise know existed.
2. NUTRIENTS:  I am not a scientist but even I know the overall nutrient content is better in foods that have not been picked either too soon or sat for too long.  Looking for organic products is first on my list for higher quality produce and as Chris Bell of InterNatural Marketing, an organic produce marketing company with twenty-two years of experience, reminds me “small farms that grow with organic practices and have sales less than $5000.oo a year are able to use the word organic when marketing their product.”  Looking for an organic product produced locally ensures the quality of our food with the added bonus of freshness.
3. KNOW YOUR FARMER:  The beauty of buying local is getting a chance to find out how our food is grown!  A trip with the kids to get produce now becomes an educational event without even trying.  Talking to our local farmers either at the farm or the farmer’s market gives us an idea of their growing practices.  We sample product and even pick our own so we really feel a part of the process. Many farms even have social events to attend with great food, music and drink.
4. TAKING CARE OF THE LAND:  Farmers tend to be good stewards of the land, especially organic farmers.  We find out which of our local farms use sustainable and organic growing practices.  These farms tend to grow a variety of crops and grow seasonably. Eating seasonably is one way our family tries new foods and we eat more of what is meant to grow in our climate zone.
5. LOWER COSTS/COMMUNITY DOLLARS:  Not having to calculate added shipping cost for our food to be carted across the nation, adds up!  At our farmer’s market we buy value added products that are locally grown, packaged and produced so our money goes to helping our community thrive.  Also our local farms supply our local restaurants and when we go out we make certain to patronize those restaurants that buy local foods.
6. CARBON FOOTPRINT:  If food travels an average of 1500-2500 miles from farm to plate then buying local, even with its varied definition of mileage, certainly cuts our carbon footprint considerably. We make every attempt to buy as much as we can at our local farmers market and participate in farm box programs that deliver to designated areas where many others can also pick up their product.  In this way we share the mileage with the farm truck.    
7. KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES:   Yes, buying local even gives this old pastime an eco twist.  We jump at the chance to share information with our neighbors and friends about our latest finds at the farmers market or the newest restaurants that buy local produce.  Spreading the word helps the community thrive and encourages growth of local farms and markets.

Our family still makes every effort to save the planet and make the best decisions regarding our health but we have changed with the times. We learned to embrace the idea of buying local and put in at least the amount of effort we exerted on researching and buying from the best thrift stores, coffee shops, household and sporting goods; all the things we feel we need to live a comfortable life. 

It turned out getting started was easier than we thought with help from organizations like “Local Harvest” who make it easy to find local farms, farmers markets, CSA’s and the like just by entering our zip code. http://www.localharvest.org/   “Sustainable Table” offers another online tool, where we learned what seasonable produce is grown in the US, in which month and state http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/seasonalcooking/farmtotable/seasonalingredientmap .


By buying local we now directly affect the health of our planet, our cities and ourselves and who couldn’t feel good about that!