Why Choose Local Food?

This appeared in the December 26, 2019 edition of the Fish Wrap.

Why choose food from local sources? Local food means eggs, meat and produce grown in our community and sold at Farmers Markets, CSA’s and local grocers. Sourcing locally gives you a lot of visibility and understanding of the production practices and nutritional quality of your food. But besides the value to you and your family, sourcing locally also benefits our community and our future security.

Our food production and delivery system is surprisingly fragile. Much of our food is produced in other states or countries, shipped to centralized processing and packaging facilities, then shipped again to the distribution centers. Any of these points is vulnerable to catastrophic events like war, embargo, strikes and natural disasters. When disaster strikes, we will rely on ourselves and our neighbors to survive.

Supporting local food producers (like regenerativelifefarm.com) enables development of local infrastructure like farms, feed mills, butchers, bakers, processing facilities and distribution networks. Infrastructure also means food storage practices and facilities. Preserving food has a long tradition in our country. Have you ever been to a putting-up party? Spent a day canning tomatoes in a hot kitchen or putting up sweet corn? These practices can be expanded to serve our communities in times of hardship.

You vote with your dollars. You can enjoy nutritious local food today and your business will enable the producers to build an infrastructure that could support you in times of emergency.

Never underestimate the power of your dollar in a free market capitalist economy. The producers will bring to market what the consumers demand. Buying local is placing a vote for nutritious food that comes from people and places you know and trust. Your vote keeps jobs and dollars in the community, and helps build infrastructure that will support you and your family into the future.