My daughter Ashanti helping out at a local Vancouver farm planting organic garlic!
Why Buy or Grow Locally?
1. Perhaps one of my favorite reasons to buy locally is that local foods create community! Taking my daughters to plant locally allows them to meet other like minded friends and see who is a part of their community. It also gives them a sense of belonging to a larger and more important cause. Even buying locally, we make friends at our local markets and cafes and we all know where our food comes from, even better the possibility that we helped grow it! It’s so satisfying!
2. Keeps us in touch with the seasons. We eat them at their peak taste when they are most abundant, and the least expensive!
3. Local food supports local economy- Money spent with local farmers, growers and artisans means it all stays close to home, working to build our local economy instead of being handed over to a corporation in another city, state, or country. Since the food moves through fewer hands, more of the money we spend tends to get to the people growing it and our community.
4. Local food promotes Food Safety - Fewer steps there are between your food’s source and your mouth, the less chance there is for contamination.
5. Local food = More variety. - Supermarkets sell name brands “Romaine Lettuce, Russet Potatoes, Red Delicious” Local farmers tend to try new things, different types of “artisan” lettuces, heirloom tomatoes, red, orange, yellow and green! YUM!
6. And finally… it tastes better! Have you ever gone in your back yard and harvested brussel sprouts, or sliced a beautiful perfectly ripe tomato from your garden. I think Love is the best ingredient in home grown foods and it doesn’t get any more local than our back yard!
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