Now more than ever, the demand for food grown locally is on the rise, as is our interest in knowing where our food originates. The difference is encouraging, says Hillary Penn, manager at Herridgeโs Farm Fresh Market in Clarkson.
โMany our customers know and appreciate the quality of local foods and are always looking to try new recipes or find new ways to use an ingredient,โ Penn comments. โItโs especially encouraging to notice young children showing an interest in where their food comes from.โ
As we move into the colder months, we wonโt have year-round access to farm fresh produce like we do in the summer and fallโbut itโs still important to be mindful of where your next meal is coming from. There are so many good reasons you should ask where your food is grown and harvested. Weโve put together a list of why choosing local is choosing better.
Local food just tastes betterโฆ and itโs very likely more nutritious. At a farmerโs market, most local produce has been picked within the last 24 hours, ensuring it is ripe, fresh and at its peak nutrient-density, while most produce you find at the supermarket was likely picked days or weeks before it arrived on the shelf. As soon as a food is harvested its nutrient content begins to deteriorate, especially vitamins C, E, and A.
The mind-mouth connection. Itโs not just what you eatโthe who, where, when, how and why counts, too. When you shop locally you are directly connected to the food you eat; knowing and picturing who produced it, what farm it came from, and exactly how it got to your table. Itโs the taste of your momโs homemade tomato sauce versus the jar of sauce you grab at your nearest grocery store.
When you eat locally, you eat with the seasons. Before the modern grocery store, humans simply ate what was available to us at that time of year. In summer, our bodies require cooling foods like fresh fruits, vegetables, and berries to help us handle the heat, while in the dark, cold days of winter we need rich and warming high-fat foods, root vegetables, and fermented foods.
Eating well can get kind of boring. How many varieties of fruit and veg can you find at your local grocery store? One of each, likely. Eating seasonally forces you to try new foods and be more creative in the kitchen.
Buying local shortens the distribution chain. Sourcing food directly from the farm means there is less waste produced, less packaging from transportation, shipping and consumer marketing, and less environmental waste from pollution.
Every time you buy from a local farmer, itโs a chance to ask questions. You can learn about their farming practices and gain a better understanding of your food. As a consumer you have a choice to connect with your food sources and ensure ongoing food sustainability and security in our area.
Youโre supporting local business. When you buy food in the grocery store most of the cost you incur goes to the transportation, processing, packaging, refrigeration, and marketing of that food, and not necessarily to the farmers themselves. When you are buying from one of our local farmers and producers, youโre supporting your local community, and your money goes back into producing more local food and products for you.
Eating locally encourages diversification of local agriculture and crop variety. This, in turn, reduces the reliance on monoculture; single crops grown over a wide area to the detriment of soils. The reality is that our food is only as nutrient-dense as the soil in which it is grown; although strawberries are known to contain high levels of vitamin C, these levels are heavily dependent on the quality of the soil in which they are grown, and their level of freshness.
LOCAL LINKS
Farmersโ Markets Ontario
farmersmarketsontario.com
Ontario Farm Fresh Marketing Association
ontariofarmfresh.com
Savour Ontario
savourontario.milk.org
Foodland Ontario
ontario.ca/foodland
FarmFood360
farmfood360.ca
