Why buying local is better than outsourced foods

When it comes to consuming foods, you’ll find that local food help more than just supporting the local farmers of your area. By reducing the amount of time the foods are produced, processed and harvested you are not only decreasing the amount of transported distance it takes to be put onto your plate, but it means fresher ingredients for you that will last you a lot longer.

The general idea of purchasing local foods is to get in touch with your seasons and produce available at that time, reduces energy, food miles and emissions, produce are tastier and fresher than store-bought and giving back to your community.

History of the local food movement

The local food movement started around 1971, it was started by the anti-corporate activist, Alice Waters. Around this time Chez Panisse, a Californian restaurant, joined this movement and would only source local ingredients for their dishes.

Throughout the years, there have been many contributions to this movement from organically grown began to distribute local foods from the city Eugene and to other surrounding cities only, to Michelle Obama planting 1,100 square feet of garden at the foot of the white house.

Local food trend and benefits

Locally grown produce – having local produce means fresher ingredients and more nutrients, this is mostly important for restaurants and organic cooks. Buying local foods helps build the local economy and typically taste and looks better.

Locally grown farmers typically sell products that is within a season, so by buying fresh local food, you’ll be purchasing the ingredients when they are full of flavor. Typically, non-local ingredients tend to be stored for days on end within the store and aren’t sorted by the seasons, so there will be a lack of flavor in produce.

Faux Meats – a popular food trend of 2019 and 2020 is plant-based foods. You’ll find many people are now opting for “Faux meats”, which are made from plant-based ingredients. This helps the local community for reducing any processed meats processes which can reduce your carbon footprint.

You’ll find many supermarkets provide these veggie meats but there are also people who specialize in Faux meats such as the vegetarian butcher, but you can learn to make your own version of these meats.

Reduce carbon footprint – reducing your carbon footprint is very important not only for your community but for the world. When buying you by local foods, you’ll find you’re decreasing the transport of produce, this reduces the toxic gas cars and trucks produce.

By buying local, you prevent the unnecessary need for shipping, packing, and refrigeration. You’ll also find that your ingredients are a lot fresher and full of nutrients that store-bought ingredients don’t have.

Hyper-local – Hyper-local foods are the use of growing your own edible produce. This can be can by making a vegetable patch and grow some vegetables that are in the correct season, grow some herbs, and even having a chicken pen and collect the eggs for cooking use.

Hyper-local is a lot better than both store-bought and local ingredients as you know what fertilizers are used, it can be put straight from the ground to the plate and it’s a lot fresher and healthier, it also saves you money.

Local food during Pandemic

Demand for locally grown food soared as consumers began to worry that fresh vegetables and meat would become scarce when the coronavirus caused outbreaks among meat-processing plants and farm workers. The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting fears over the stability of the American large-scale food production industry have pushed more consumers toward locally grown and raised meats and vegetables, and so far, South Dakota producers of homegrown foods have been unable to keep up.

Summary

In conclusion, buying your food locally has many impacts, not just on your suburb but the rest of the world as well. It preserves the small farm businesses in your community, reduces the food miles and decreases the chances of buying food with nasty pesticides, fertilises and harmful chemical exposure to them that can affect the nutrients and overall quality of the produce.