Why Buy Locally?
There are so many reasons why to buy your food locally! Here are the top reasons why RAFFL supports local agriculture:
Provides fresh and tasty food. Locally raised food has traveled a short distance from field to plate, so it often reaches you within 24 hours of harvest. Also, local farms often choose produce and fruit varieties for their exceptional flavor, not just to withstand the rigors of shipping and handling.
Builds Community. When you buy direct from the farmer, you are re-establishing a time-honored connection between the eater and the grower, enhancing your eating experience by knowing part of the story about your food.
Supports the regional economy. Buying locally keeps your money circulating within your community, supporting economic prosperity in your region.
Safeguards your family’s health: Knowing where your food comes from and how it is grown or raised enables you to make informed food choices. Whether you are concerned about chemicals and pesticide use, or want to better understand the farmer’s animal husbandry practices, having direct access to those growing your food allows you to ask the questions that are important to you.
Protects natural resources: Food traveling through our current distribution system is resource intensive. The average food items grown and eaten in the United States has traveled 1,300-1,500 miles. Only 10% of the fossil fuels used in the world’s food system actually goes into production. The other 90% goes into packaging, transporting and marketing. Buying locally greatly reduces our reliance on fossil fuels.
Protects our food security: Food with less distance to travel from farm to plate is less susceptible to natural or manmade disruptions like rising transportation costs, droughts in food producing regions of the country and world, and bioterrorism.
Supports family farmers. Family farmers who sell their products through national and international distribution channels receive little if any profit due to the costs of transport, packaging and advertising. When you buy from local farmers, the farmer receives a larger portion of the food dollar.
Protects farmland and our working landscape: As the value of local food and products increases, selling farmland for development becomes less likely. The landscape that you and visitors to the area enjoy—lush fields of crops, grazing meadows, farm houses and barns—will survive only as long as the farms are financially viable. When you buy from these farms, you are doing something proactive about preserving the agricultural landscape.
Keeps your taxes in check: Farms contribute more in taxes than they require in services, whereas suburban development costs more than it generates in taxes, according to several studies. On average, for every $1 in revenue raised by residential development, governments must spend $1.17 on services. For each dollar of revenue raised by farm, forest or open spaces, governments spend 34 cents on services.
Local food is about the future: By supporting local farmers today, you can help ensure that there will be farms in your community tomorrow, that young farmers have the necessary markets to start new and viable agricultural businesses, and that future generations will have access to nourishing, flavorful and abundant food.” |
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How Do I Eat Locally?
Learn about local farms! Check out this video series by Green Mountain College students profiling 8 farms.
Find a Farmers Market near you. In Rutland County, we are lucky to even have one during the winter!
Shop at retail stores that sell local products.
Stop by a farmstand on your way home from work.
Grow a garden and learn to preserve food for the winter.
Visit a U-pick orchard or strawberry operation and pick more than you can eat. Freeze the rest for later!
Invest in a farm - buy a share in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm and receive a box of fresh produce each week.
Encourage your employer to offer a Worksite Farm-share Delivery Program
Ask your favorite restaurant to serve locally grown food next time you dine out.
Ask your child's school to serve local food for breakfast, snacks and lunch. Offer to coordinate efforts to start a school garden to supply the cafeteria. |
