Why Shop Local

Local food is fresher, healthier and tastes better, because it spends less time being transported from farm to plate. Therefore, it loses fewer nutrients and spoils less. When you buy local food, you’ll also discover a new appreciation for our regions seasonal varieties.

Shorter distribution chains for local food and products mean less food is wasted in distribution, warehousing and merchandising. Additionally, less fuel, traffic and air pollution are created during transportation.

Farmers who sell direct to local stores and consumers cut out the middleman and get a higher price for their food. This in turn, helps farm families stay on the land and creates jobs on farms and in local food processing and distribution systems.

Dollars spent with local farms and food producers stay in the local economy. These businesses create more jobs locally and are more likely to use banks, media to advertise and other services in the area, expanding opportunities for local entrepreneurs.

We create stronger communities by connecting people with the farmers and food producers who bring us healthy and agriculturally diverse local foods.

Well-managed farms help local ecosystems by conserving fertile soil, protecting water sources and growing cover crops that capture carbon emissions from the atmosphere. In addition, the patchwork farm environment of fields, meadows, woods, ponds and buildings provides habitat for wildlife.

Local food encourages diverse agriculture which is good for the soil and genetic crop varieties. Farms often grow many different crops to provide a long harvest season, in contrast to large-scale production, where single crops are grown over a wide area.

Buying local helps farms survive and thrive, keeping farmland from being sold for development. This is landscape that is important to economic activity of our area, such as recreation and tourism.

Farms contribute more in taxes than they require in services. The government spends a fraction of the cost on services for a farm, forest or open space as it does on most urban development. Cows don’t call 911 and tomatoes don’t go to school.

Supporting local farms and products today helps to ensure there will be farms in our community tomorrow. We can ensure that future generations will have access to a healthy and abundant local food system.