With all of the food documentaries I’ve been watching lately, it occurred to me that I don’t mention the whole “eat local” thing here on the blog very often. So, here goes: Did you know, on average, your food travels 1500 miles to get to your plate? Is that crazy or what?!
Not only is food that has traveled so far less nutritious than local food, it also typically represents varieties of food that are easiest and most efficient to ship, not varieties with the best flavor {as every gardener already knows}.
Plus, eating local stimulates your local economy and puts money right into the hands of the farmers who took the time and dedication to grow the food in the first place {not to mention saves natural resources, all the way from gas to packaging}…and the list goes on.
Is local milk worth the price?
I find the hardest part about eating local is finding out where to get it {unless, of course, you are growing it right in your backyard}. If you want to try to eat more locally grown foods, head over to Eat Wild—it’s a website dedicated to showing you where you can find local produce, meat, and dairy. If you are in Washington State, check out our Washington State Farmers Market Directory. Not from Washington No problem. Go to FarmersMarket.com to find your local market. Also, if you really want to dive in, start foraging for FREE local food–you can check out how to get started HERE.
How about YOU, does eating local matter to you?
~Mavis
Plenty: Eating Locally on the 100-Mile Diet
Madam Chow says
Yes and no. I like supporting local farmers, and the fresher the better. Nevertheless, I have lived in or visited places where (1) the growing season is very short, or (2) the climate is such that growing most of the food locally is just not feasible, and/or 3) there is not enough land available to grown enough food for the population. These places have to ship their food in to feed folks, and I think that’s OK.
Kristin says
I try buy local as much as possible, even when it’s inconvenient. I am fortunate in that I live in the Garden State with a year-round farmer’s market just a few miles from my house and a wonderful organic CSA one town over. I’ve been surprised at how much produce is still available locally in the winter – even into January there is a decent variety of (primarily root) vegetables. Early spring is the leanest period, but since I started freezing and preserving, I get through it pretty well. I love being able to support small businesses in my local community (most of the farmers in the market come from within my county). I love staying in touch with the seasons and eating the best, freshest produce when it’s at its peak. I don’t plan on going back to grocery store vegetables from California or Mexico if I can help it!
Renia Carsillo says
It’s a big deal to me but extremely frustrating to execute. I live in rural north-central Florida where farmers and produce are plentiful but most are huge track farms that use all kinds of crazy stuff on their produce and their animals so to get safe food we often have to grow it or go further out. The last few years we’re finally starting to see some changes but they are few and far between and really limited in what they produce.
Jamie says
Yes, eating locally does matter to me. We buy eggs from a local lady with 40 some odd number of hens and we buy our beef from a local farmer that does only grass fed beef. We are slowly trying to add other local food into our diet, but price is definitely our limiting factor. We also frequent our farmer’s market and have put in several new raised garden beds this year.
Brittany says
We love buying local, but it’s easy for us living in a farming community. That being said, I did happen to buy grapes from the store last week (they were $.99/lb!) and there was a Brown Widow Spider in them!! It just further reminded me why I like buying local….