Research has shown that having the option of buying food that has been grown locally has many benefits.
Seasonally
One of the benefits is that eating local food is that you can eat seasonally. What does that mean – you can eat food that is currently in season. For an example strawberries that have just been picked are full of flavor and also taste better than strawberries that are available in off seasons. The off season ones have been trucked thousands of miles as well as picked before fully ripe. So, you don’t get the same benefits as you do when those strawberries or other fruits as well as vegetables are locally picked.
Nutrients
Food that has a shorter time between their harvest and your dinner-table does not have much time for the nutrient value to decrease. Importing foods from states as well as countries far awayareolder and have traveled and then set in large distribution centers prior to arriving at the store you shop at.
How it was grown
When you buy foods at local farmers markets, you can talk to the farmer about what practices he usesin raising and then harvestinghis crops. This information is interesting as well as you will know exactly where the food comes from and what is in it. Food bought at the big chain supermarket – you have no idea about them.
What is in the food?
When you know where your food came from as well as who grew it, you know a lot more about that food that what you buy at the supermarket. A good example is free-range eggs – the farmer will tell you that the chickens that laid these eggs are not penned up in areas where the chickens have no room to move or get any exercise. It is the same way with free-range chicken that you can buy directly from the farmer.
As you can see, there are many benefits to buying locally.
