Eat local to support great health, local farmers, & the environment
Instead of eating local or at home do you sometimes visit a fast food chain? Then you’ve probably seen huge 16-wheelers unloading food into the restaurant.
That’s because major chains import their food and then sell them to cities across the country, which means lots of carbon dioxide being transmitted into the air.
Most of our meals are imported from about 1,500 miles away.
- To put that into perspective, that’s about the driving distance from Vermont to Florida. All of those miles add harmful gases to our atmosphere are perpetuating the greenhouse gas issue.
- It also makes us more dependent upon fossil fuels, since the food needs all of that gas to get from point a to point b. By frequenting local restaurants and farm stands, you’re not only giving a boost to your local economy, but you’re also helping reduce the amount of air pollution given off by transporting food.
The less greenhouse gas emissions that go into our atmosphere, the better.
- If your city has local grocery stores, ask where they get their food from. Is it locally sourced, or do they have it shipped in from far away?
- Ask around and find a store that relies on the local economy.
By eating local fruits and vegetables, you’re also helping protect local farmland from being used for big businesses.
- Your town might even have a farm that raises its own livestock or even fish, in some areas.
- While it might be slightly more expensive to buy such fresh meat, it’ll be better tasting and you’ll feel better knowing that it didn’t take a lot of carbon dioxide just to put food on your table.
If you suffer from allergies and sinus infections, then you may want to look into consuming local, raw honey.
- The kind you buy at the store might be raw and organic, but eating local honey helps build up your resistance to local pollen.
- The bigger your resistance to local pollen, thanks to local honey bees, the less likely you are to suffer from allergies.
Some cities and towns even have weeks where they feature local restaurants.
- It’s a great way to get out and meet other members of your community, try some new local food, and pump money back into your economy.
- Check to see when your local farmer’s market is open, too. Some of them are just seasonal, while other nearby farms might visit a specific place year-round.
Be sure to join our newsletter, next we discuss the environmental benefits of giving up bottled water!
Until then,