 Ours is truly a global market. If there is an item to be had, there is a place to buy it, whether it is an area retailer or on the Internet. Depending on where you live, the goods you want and need may or may not be produced locally. What difference does it make if the goods you purchase are produced locally or not?
- The farther things travel, the more energy is needed to get them to you. Your average fruit or vegetable today travels 2,000 miles from farm to market. A head of lettuce traveling to North Carolina from California uses 36 times more fossil fuel energy in transport than it provides in food energy. Shipped produce must often be grown for transport durability and not taste and nutrition.
- Purchasing goods locally keeps money circulating in your own community. This can help create jobs in your region as well as insulate your community from national and global recessions.
- When you purchase goods directly from the producer, you can find out more about the production process as well as give feedback.
- Buying local produce helps protect local farmlands that provide wildlife habitat and green space.
Carolina Farm Stewardship Association. "Why Buy Local?"
Eat Well Guide
Food Routes. "Buy Local."
Homegrown Handmade.
Local Harvest.
North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. "Goodness Grows in North Carolina."
Project Green Leaf.
Section Z. "A Tale of Two Tomatoes." Sustainable Table. "The Issues: Buy Local."
USDA's Find Your Local Farmers Market
Want information about starting a co-op in your area? Check out the Cooperative Grocers' Information Network
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