When was the last time that you were truly satisfied with the taste of store-bought vegetables? You will likely discover a big difference when you buy from local growers vs. bringing home produce from big supermarkets. Can you remember a time that you went to the local produce market instead of the big supermarket? Here are a handful of reasons for buying local.
Fresher and More Flavorful
Your body will benefit from fresher and more flavorful locally grown food. Local farmers pick their produce when they are ripe and usually deliver them to the market on the same day. On the contrary, non-locally grown produce must be picked early to prevent spoilage, to survive the long distance travel and to allow for ripening times sitting on the shelf.
Picking produce early does not allow the fruit or vegetable to sweeten on the host plant. On the contrary, when you buy locally, the fruit or vegetable may ripen on the plant. Choosing locally grown produce is as close as you can get to hand picking your own produce without having the farm in your own backyard.
Lost Nutrients
Once produce is picked, it stops receiving nutrients from the source plant. In addition, after days of traveling to the market, the amount of nutrients in the fruit or vegetable already begins to diminish. Locally grown produce that has a longer time to mature on the host plant can reap the many more nutrients derived from the plant, hence, a healthier food.
It has also been proven that fresh fruits and vegetables are much more nutritious compared to those that have been transported for a long time. Foods that are not grown locally and have to travel for days or even a week before it reaches the market lose valuable nutrients in the process. For instance, spinach loses 50-90% of its Vitamin C content within 24 hours after it is picked. Fresh peas lose 50% of their nutrients after a week from harvest. In fact, most vegetables and fruits lose a substantial amount of their nutritional value when they travel for days or are not consumed within a day.
The Economic Benefit
When you opt for fresh produce today, you are actually investing on your long-term health. Fresh fruits and vegetables are rich in antioxidants and other disease fighting nutrients that the body needs. Eating nutrient-rich foods will help you age healthier, stronger and more resistant to diseases. Investing now in healthy foods could help prevent investing in health issues tomorrow.
The Environmental Benefit
When you support local businesses, your buying power also helps support local farmers and your local community. Buying locally produced foods can help reduce transportation, which decreases the CO2 emissions and contaminating highway runoff from trucks transporting food products. It also helps to reduce the amount of packaging needed to protect produce traveling across the country or the world.
