“Over the past 7 years I’ve been lucky enough to spend every week with our small local farmers, sourcing produce, meats, dairy and more, learning about our food system, the difference between local food and food sourced globally, and what makes our local farmers so awesome and their food so delicious (and healthy)!
Here are my top 8 reasons to eat locally:
1. It tastes better! I can’t tell you how many homes we’ve been in and how many times we’ve heard “My Kids don’t eat vegetables”. The fact is that you probably don’t love boring old frozen peas from the super market either. But pop open a pod of crispy, sweet sugar snap peas and you won’t believe how many children will choose them over candy (we’ve seen it hundreds of times!)
2. It’s fresher. As soon as food is picked it starts to lose taste, but more importantly, nutrients. Eating foods that were just picked provide you with goodies picked at the peak of freshness and bursting with flavor. The difference is incredible!
3. It’s cleaner! We’re not talking about dirt here…we’re talking about chemicals, preservatives, fertilizers, herbicides and all the other techniques we have resorted to so food is “fresh” when you get it. Local farmers don’t need or use these, they rely on good old fashioned knowledge of the earth, organic/sustainable farming methods, and a small lag time between picking and eating. Ever wonder why those strawberries at the store are red on the outside and white on the inside? Those berries were picked green and torched under a heat lamp to turn them red. So what you’re getting is a green strawberry made to look red, with none of the juiciness, flavor or nutrients of one picked fresh in season.
4. It’s better for our planet! Not only do our farmers grow cleaner food, but they avoid using the chemicals that are helping to destroy our planet. Chemical nitrogen, fertilizer and the like are major contributors to soil and water pollution and it is a huge environmental problem. In addition, the carbon footprint for transporting food globally to the U.S. is enormous. When you add it up, local food saves millions of gallons of Oil and Petrochemicals for our planet.
5. It’s better for the Animals! Factory farming is a big problem for a number of reasons (imagine the environmental impact of 20,000 pigs in a barn) but for us the welfare of the animals is right near the top of the list. Happy, healthy animals make better products, and they deserve to live good lives!
6. Variety! Why Eat Locally? Ask the Expert. Did you know that we used to have over 2,000 varieties of Apples in the U.S. in the early 1900’s? Today we have around 200. How many of them do you see at the store? Local farms are pivotal in saving and retaining varieties of Fruits, Veggies and Animals you just won’t see at the big stores. Not only do different varieties have different nutrients, but it opens up a world of taste possibilities!
7. Supporting your Local Economy! The advancements we have made in technology have afforded us many luxuries and a great deal of convenience…but don’t forget that when you buy food you are voting with your food dollars. The more money we send “other places” the less we spend with our local farmers who genuinely care about your family!
8. Transparency! Ever wonder what was sprayed on that apple or what those cows were eating? Good luck finding that out at the store! As a society we have become completely disconnected with our food and instead rely on labels and “other people” to inform us. If you can’t ask the person who grew your food what’s on it or in it, how do you really know?”
Mike Geller is Founder of Mike’s Organic Delivery, a home delivery service specializing is delivering local, organic, healthy food directly from farmers to happy consumers.
Produce, Meat, Fish, Cheese, Eggs, Dairy, Pantry items, Thanksgiving Turkeys and more are delivered on a week to week or full season basis depending upon need.
For more information visit www.mikesorganicdelivery.com and use Coupon Code GMOMS to receive a $10 Discount with your first order!
