As everyone is looking for ways to help the environment and pursue healthier options, sustainable living alternatives are becoming increasingly popular. You’ve probably checked out the local produce market and saw freshly-picked vegetables, locally fermented spirits, and neighborhood craft cheeses.
More than the environmental and economic impact of buying from your local farmers, make the conscious switch to better alternatives. To get you started, here are six benefits of locally-sourced locally-sourced ingredients for your next meal.
1. Fresh ingredients, great food
This is one thing that separates locally-produced ingredients compared to those from large, industrial farms. Their limited resources mean that they can only cater to a small, immediate market. They do not have the distribution system to reach far-off customers and as such, they don’t need to use preservatives to keep foods fresh for longer.
More often than not, locally-sourced ingredients are freshly picked because the farmers are nearby. This gives you an authentic farm-to-market experience, letting you enjoy fresh products. The most important and immediate benefit of locally sourcing your ingredients has to be the quality of the meals you make.
As any chef can tell you, fresh ingredients make for a sumptuous meal. Depending on the particular product, you can enjoy tastier and juicier fruits and vegetables. The same also goes for fruits. Create a great jam or milkshake by choosing fresh fruits available from your local grocer.
2. Greater nutritional value
Since they are planted on small, mom-and-pop farms, the products they offer do were not subjected to the same controlled and artificially-aided processes often used in industrial farms. Since commercial farming is more focused on yield, rather than improving each plant and animal in their premises, the products they create generally have less nutritional value. According to agricultural nonprofit Rodale Institute, industrial farming has depleted their soils, leading to food items with fewer nutrients.
Additionally, some nutrients in fruits and vegetables are lost during packaging, transport, and processing. The same happens when they are left on store shelves waiting for you to pick them up. On the other hand, local produce requires less time to transport, making them more accessible and therefore, more nutritious.
3. Enjoying a changing diet
If you’re used to commercially-available food, chances are you’ve probably experienced eating the same food over and over again. Globalization and industrialization have allowed us to enjoy most food products despite being seasonal. However, it has left us choosing the same food and cooking the same meals over and over.
By regularly purchasing food from your local farmer, you will see that the products they offer vary by season. Since your location has a unique climate, the food it produces is also unique. For example, strawberries usually grow in cooler places while jackfruits and oranges might be more common in tropical locations. Additionally, there are certain fruits and vegetables that grow by season. Opting to go with the products available in your local market will allow you to try seasonally-changing meals as well.
4. Learn more about your local produce
By talking to your neighborhood farmers, it is inevitable that you’ll pick up a thing or two about how they grow the food you eat. This connection between the buyers and sellers also tells you the traditional and sustainable practices they use in their own farms. You can even pick up basic agriculture techniques you can use. Through this, you can even start growing your own backyard vegetables.
Aside from simply learning how they are grown, you can learn other stuff about these products. In some cases, there are local communities that pass down medicinal applications for certain plants and food items. Lastly, you can take the opportunity to learn new recipes from the farmers who have undoubtedly tried their own produce.
5. Helping the environment
Everyone is trying to help the environment in any way they can, and you could too through your food choices. Aside from enjoying the immediate benefits of locally-sourced food items, you can also help through simple choices. Commercially available food has to be harvested, packaged, and transported over long distances. These processes use machines and vehicles that require energy, like electricity and fuel, in order to run. Additionally, after consuming the products, you are most likely left with the plastic packaging that you’ll have to dispose of yourself.
With local produce, farmers basically make the harvest themselves and bring them directly to the local grocer, which requires significantly less energy to do. Additionally, no additional packaging material is required. More often than not, you’ll even be encouraged to bring your own shopping bag when buying.
6. Supporting the local economy
It probably helps you enjoy your meals better knowing that you bought them from local farmers. The money you spent goes not into large corporations but to farming families whose profits usually go to feeding their families and sustaining their livelihood. More importantly, you also get to benefit by supporting your local government.
Local farmers who provide your ingredients will most likely reinvest in the same city, town, or state. They also pay taxes locally, which your local government uses for its projects and for generally improving the lives of its residents, and that includes you.
Buy local food today
There are a lot of benefits to sourcing your ingredients locally. Not only do they help you get more in terms of flavor and nutrition, but they also give you opportunities to help your community and the environment. Nothing beats exceptionally good food that’s socially and environmentally guilt-free.