Tiger Corner Farms | Loco for Local
Why should we care about local food?
local farming, local movement, farm to table

Loco for Local

Eat local, buy local, support local. No matter where you go, local is the new organic. Locavores, or those who choose to support local food growers, generally consider anything grown within a 100 mile radius to be considered local, although the closer, the better. But are there really any benefits to eating food grown closer to home, or is this just another fad, destined to fade out, like Unicorn Frappuccinos?

According to its adherents, eating local food not only benefits you, but your community as well. The following are all reasons you should consider going local:

Local food is full of it. Flavor that is. When you purchase locally grown produce, it doesn’t have to travel long distances to be distributed nationally; it is picked at its peak ripeness and sold, often within 24 hours. Alternatively, produce grown across country may have been picked before it was ripe, packaged, and has traveled hundreds of miles to your local store, taking days, weeks, or even months to be sold depending on the produce.

It’s delicious AND nutritious. Purchasing produce close to when it was harvested prevents the loss of nutrients that comes with sitting in distribution centers, waiting to be sold.

It supports your community. Buying from local farms means the money you spend on food will be reinvested in your local economy. Other local businesses and services will benefit from your spending.

Knowledge is power. When buying from local farms, you can ask the farmer how the food is grown or even visit to see for yourself. Wondering what the conditions are for workers? Drive on over and see for yourself! That’s not so easy to do if your chiles are grown in Chile.

There are many more reasons why buying local is smart, including decreasing contamination risks and reducing your carbon footprint, but if produce is grown and available locally, my favorite reason to buy is ‘why not?’ Why not help your local economy grow? Why not eat a more nutritious meal? Why not have all the facts about how your food is produced? Why not buy local?

Contact us to find out more about how Tiger Corner Farms is helping to bring more local produce to your community.

Further reading:

The Local Food Movement: Definitions, Benefits & Resources – Utah State University Extension Sustainability
The Local Food Movement – Earth’s Friends

