 Support
Local Farms!
10 Reasons to Eat Local Food
1. Locally grown food tastes better.
Food grown in your own community
was probably picked within the past day or two. It's crisp, sweet and loaded
with flavor. Produce flown or trucked in from California, Florida, Chile
or Holland is, quite understandably, much older. Several studies have shown
that the average distance food travels from farm to plate is 1,500 miles.
In a week-long (or more) delay from harvest to dinner table, sugars turn
to starches, plant cells shrink, and produce loses its vitality.
2. Local produce is better for
you.
A recent study showed that fresh
produce loses nutrients quickly. Food that is frozen or canned soon after
harvest is actually more nutritious than some "fresh" produce that has
been on the truck or supermarket shelf for a week. Locally grown food,
purchased soon after harvest, retains its nutrients.
3. Local food preserves genetic
diversity.
In the modern industrial agricultural
system, varieties are chosen for their ability to ripen simultaneously
and withstand harvesting equipment; for a tough skin that can survive packing
and shipping; and for an ability to have a long shelf life in the store.
Only a handful of hybrid varieties of each fruit and vegetable meet those
rigorous demands, so there is little genetic diversity in the plants grown.
Local farms, in contrast, grow a huge number of varieties to provide a
long season of harvest, an array of eye-catching colors, and the best flavors.
Many varieties are heirlooms, passed down from generation to generation,
because they taste good. These old varieties contain genetic material from
hundreds or even thousands of years of human selection; they may someday
provide the genes needed to create varieties that will thrive in a changing
climate.
4. Local food is GMO-free. GMO
FOODS
Although biotechnology companies
have been trying to commercialize genetically modified fruits and vegetables,
they are currently licensing them only to large factory-style farms. Local
farmers don't have access to genetically modified seed, and most of them
wouldn't use it even if they could. A June 2001 survey by ABC News showed
that 93% of Americans want labels on genetically modified food - most so
that they can avoid it. If you are opposed to eating bioengineered food,
you can rest assured that locally grown produce was bred the old-fashioned
way, as nature intended.
5. Local food supports local farm
families.
With fewer than 1 million Americans
now claiming farming as their primary occupation, farmers are a vanishing
breed. And no wonder - commodity prices are at historic lows, often below
the cost of production. The farmer now gets less than 10 cents of the retail
food dollar. Local farmers who sell direct to consumers cut out the middleman
and get full retail price for their food - which means farm families can
afford to stay on the farm, doing the work they love.
6. Local food builds community.
When you buy direct from the farmer,
you are re-establishing a time-honored connection between the eater and
the grower. Knowing the farmers gives you insight into the seasons, the
weather, and the miracle of raising food. In many cases, it gives you access
to a farm where your children and grandchildren can go to learn about nature
and agriculture. Relationships built on understanding and trust can thrive.
7. Local food preserves open space.
As the value of direct-marketed
fruits and vegetables increases, selling farmland for development becomes
less likely. You have probably enjoyed driving out into the country and
appreciated the lush fields of crops, the meadows full of wildflowers,
the picturesque red barns. That landscape will survive only as long as
farms are financially viable. When you buy locally grown food, you are
doing something proactive about preserving the agricultural landscape.
8. Local food keeps your taxes in
check.
Farms contribute more in taxes
than they require in services, whereas suburban development costs more
than it generates in taxes, according to several studies. On average, for
every $1 in revenue raised by residential development, governments must
spend $1.17 on services, thus requiring higher taxes of all taxpayers.
For each dollar of revenue raised by farm, forest, or open space, governments
spend 34 cents on services.
9. Local food supports a clean environment
and benefits wildlife.
A well-managed family farm is a
place where the resources of fertile soil and clean water are valued. Good
stewards of the land grow cover crops to prevent erosion and replace nutrients
used by their crops. Cover crops also capture carbon emissions and help
combat global warming. According to some estimates, farmers who practice
conservation tillage could sequester 12-14% of the carbon emitted by vehicles
and industry. In addition, the habitat of a farm - the patchwork of fields,
meadows, woods, ponds and buildings - is the perfect environment for many
beloved species of wildlife, including bluebirds, killdeer, herons, bats,
and rabbits.
10. Local food is about the future.
By supporting local farmers today,
you can help ensure that there will be farms in your community tomorrow,
and that future generations will have access to nourishing, flavorful,
and abundant food.
Buy local food. Sustain local farms
Eating local means more for the
local economy. According to a study by the New Economics Foundation
in London, a dollar spent locally generates twice as much income for the
local economy. When businesses are not owned locally, money leaves
the community at every transaction.
Locally grown produce is fresher.
While produce that is purchased in the supermarket or a big-box store has
been in transit or cold-stored for days or weeks, produce that you purchase
at your local farmer's market has often been picked within 24 hours of
your purchase. This freshness not only affects the taste of your
food, but the nutritional value which declines with time.
Local food just plain tastes better.
Ever tried a tomato that was picked within 24 hours?
Locally grown fruits and vegetables
have longer to ripen. Because the produce will be handled less, locally
grown fruit does not have to be "rugged" or to stand up to the rigors of
shipping. This means that you are going to be getting peaches so
ripe that they fall apart as you eat them, figs that would have been smashed
to bits if they were sold using traditional methods, and melons that were
allowed to ripen until the last possible minute on the vine.
Eating local is better for air quality
and pollution than eating organic. In a March 2005 study by the journal
Food Policy, it was found that the miles that organic food often travels
to our plate creates environmental damage that outweighs the benefit of
buying organic.
Buying local food keeps us in touch
with the seasons. By eating with the seasons, we are eating foods
when they are at their peak taste, are the most abundant, and the least
expensive.
Buying locally grown food is fodder
for a wonderful story. Whether it's the farmer who brings local apples
to market or the baker who makes local bread, knowing part of the story
about your food is such a powerful part of enjoying a meal.
Eating local protects us from bio-terrorism.
Food with less distance to travel from farm to plate has less susceptibility
to harmful contamination.
Local food translates to more variety.
When a farmer is producing food that will not travel a long distance, will
have a shorter shelf life, and does not have a high-yield demand, the farmer
is free to try small crops of various fruits and vegetables that would
probably never make it to a large supermarket. Supermarkets are interested
in selling "Name brand" fruit: Romaine Lettuce, Red Delicious Apples, Russet
Potatoes. Local producers often play with their crops from year to
year, trying out Little Gem Lettuce, Senshu Apples, and Chieftain Potatoes.
Supporting local providers supports
responsible land development. When you buy local, you give those
with local open space - farms and pastures - an economic reason to stay
open and undeveloped.
Take the Eat Local Challenge
Take the challenge anytime! How
can I participate?
1. For one week, commit to the following:
* Spend 10% of
your grocery budget on local food — grown within a 100-mile radius
of wherever you live.
* Try one new
fruit or vegetable each day.
* Preserve food
to enjoy later in the year.
GMO FOODS
Genetically Modified Foods
You may have heard of GMOs, Genetically Modified
Organisms. One of the main uses of this new technology is to trick plants
into producing their own pesticides. This saves the cost and labour of
applying pesticides. However, it has a major drawback. The pesticides are
all through the inside of the food instead of on the outside just on the
surface. You can't wash them off. Farmers normally avoid applying ordinary
pesticides a few weeks before harvest. With GMOs, the plants keep producing
their own pesticides right up to the time they are picked.
Another use of GMO technology is terminator genes.
The terminator gene makes the next generation of seed sterile. This makes
it impossible for farmers to save seed, forcing farmers to buy from a shrinking
number of seed companies at higher and higher prices each year.
Scientists put Arctic char fish genes in strawberries
to make them resistant to cold and scorpion genes in tomatoes to make them
resistant to pests. Unfortunately, the genes don't stay put. The pollen
spreads the genes to non-genetically modified food crops and wild plants
with unknown consequences and no possibility of recall.
Unlike new drugs, a new GMO food is presumed
safe until proven harmful, and almost no one bothers to test to see if
it is harmful in the long term. One of the few tests done in the UK showed
that genetically modified potatoes were unsafe — causing brain damage.
The big GMO companies such as Dupont and Monsanto
have successfully lobbied the government not to label genetically modified
food. We are forced to eat it whether we want to take the risk not.
WHAT IS GENETIC ENGINEERING?
Genes are the blueprints for every part of an
organism. Genetic engineering is the process of articficially modifying
these blueprints. By cutting and splicing DNA-genetic surgury-genetic engineers
can transfer genes specific to one type of organism into any other organism
on earth.
A good article to educate yourself about
genetically engineered foods:
www.netlink.de/gen/fagan.html
Articles about genetically engineered food. www.organicconsumers.org/gelink.cfm
Become an activist, visit the following link.
www.gefoodalert.org/takeaction/html/whoisgefoodalert.htm
WHY DO IT?
Scientists want to transfer desirable qualities
from one organism to another, for example, to make a crop resistant to
an herbicide or to enhance food value.
What are the dangers?
New toxins and
allergens in foods
Other damaging
effects on health caused by unnatural foods
Increased use
of chemicals on crops, resulting in increased contamination of our water
supply and food
The creation of
herbicide-resistant weeds
The spread of
diseases across species barriers
Loss of bio-diversity
in crops
The disturbance
of ecological balance
Artificially induced
characteristics and inevitable side-effects will be passed on to all subsequent
generations and to other related organisms. Once released, they can never
be recalled or contained. The consequences of this are incalculable.
MENDOCINO COUNTY CALIFORNIA
FIRST COUNTY IN NATION TO BAN THE GROWING OF GENETICALLY ALTERED
CROPS AND ANIMALS!
Reduce Meat Consumption
M. Isis
Israel - Authorized Senior Dealer
Nor.
California
Foodture - Cooking for a Healthy Future
2005 ©
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