Whenever it is warm on campus there are always stations set up over by the mall area that sell fruits, vegetables, and I have even seen flowers at times. At first I would never buy from these stands, figuring that I can get the same thing at the grocery store when I'd need to shop and thinking that it was inconvenient to be picking up produce with a handful of books.
However, I began to learn more about locally grown foods and its benefits. Buying locally grown food helps out the local economy within my community. Many farmers that need to ship out their products need to spend more money on transporting their goods, refrigeration and packaging. They only make approximately 1/5 on every dollar that is spent. Farmers who grow locally receive full retail value.
I fully and completely support locally grown foods because they are also known to be safer for you to eat. The Center for a New American Dream says “Local food is often safer, too.Even when it’s not organic, small farms tend to be less aggressive than large factory farms about dousing their wares with chemicals.”
From a political standpoint, locally grown food can also help with reduce global warming. With foods that need to be shipped in from great distances fuel is being burned at an outrageous rate but with foods grown locally the farmers are fairly close to where they need to be sold.
Now whenever it is warm I always shop there as often as possible. I find here that Keynesians may not be happy about this because the government it not interfering what so ever within these independent sales.
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I too enjoy the farmer's market and love the convenience of one right on campus. Although is is hard to carry books and green peppers, buying straight from those hard working farmers just seems to make the food taste better. I get frustrated living in Minnesota in the winter because there are so few fresh food options. Have you made any adjustments to your diet to buy more locally in the winter?
ReplyDeleteI also find great enjoyment in buying my fruits and vegetables from the local markets. It's nice to be able to know exactly where and how the food you will be eating was grown and by whom. The food is much safer, as you said, in that it has traveled a lot less of a distance to get to our plates. Simply knowing this fact automatically makes me feel better about what I'm consuming.
ReplyDeleteIt's also really awesome planting your own garden, which I have at home, and then feeling even better about your cooking when you can say you've personally grown and prepared the food yourself. :)
So in short, I agree with you entirely. The satisfaction of supporting local farmers in addition to the health benefits make these markets very valuable.