In recent times people have been getting more educated in making healthy food choices. One food purchasing choice that has been seeing more popularity among those concerned with health and the environment is locally grown food. So, what is the attraction to locally grown foods? Here is some information that will help make that clear.
First off, what is locally grown? How far is still considered local? The truth is, there is no formal definition of local in terms of distance. Most consumers describe local food as grown or produced within 100 miles from the point of sale.
Why is it a good thing to buy locally grown food? For one thing, it helps local farm families which in turn help stimulate the local economy. Keeping local farmers happy prevents them from selling their land to developers.
Locally grown food doesn’t have to travel so far which is good for the environment because there are less carbon emissions produced by the vehicles that transport them.
Because it is picked and packaged nearby, nothing can beat the freshness of locally grown food. Produce that travels thousands of miles can have fewer nutrients, both because it is picked before peak ripeness and because it loses nutrients getting from point A to point B.
It has been found that up to two thirds of consumers are interested in buying local. Also, up to 78 percent of consumers are willing to pay 10 percent more for local food.
A survey of professional chefs found that 70 percent of them feel that locally-sourced produce is a “hot trend” for restaurant menus in 2017.
Farmers markets are also a growing trend across the country. Farmers markets return money to the local economies which is the opposite of what the corporate chain stores do.
Those are just some of the many reasons that buying locally grown produce is becoming ever more popular among American consumers.
