1. Local Food Tastes Good! Straight from your own garden and onto your plate . Everybody knows it doesn't get any better than that. Buying food from your neighbor is the closest you can get to growing your own. There is nothing like a ripe Floyd tomato right off the vine!
2. Eating local means more money for the local economy. 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. Buy from your neighbors rather than from those big businesses in the next town or state. When neighbors do better financially they contribute more to taxes and local economy and your roads get fixed faster.
3. Locally grown foods are healthier. Produce that ripens on the vine has a longer time to absorb a full nutrient content. It will be handled less and more likely be grown for flavor than for ability to withstand shipping. Good flavor in produce is often a sign of good nutrition. Our bodies recognize that. Highly processed foods are known to increase obesity. A piece of local fruit is FAR healthier than a granola bar filled with sugar, labeled with strange chemicals, covered in wrappings and shipped all over. Nature does it best. Right in our own back yard.
4. Local Food uses far less Fossil Fuels. They don't need to be transported very far. That reduces need of fuel. It also reduces fuel needed for building the trucks used for transport, for factories that build those trucks, for mining metals for trucks and factories.
5. Eating local is better for air quality and pollution. Less fossil fuels equals less pollution. Less factories that make trucks for transport means less pollution. Less factories means more room for forests which filter pollution. Want to breathe fresh air? Ditch the food transport. Eat and drink local. Save the Forests. We really NEED the forests!
6. Eating and Drinking Local saves Natural Resources. Forests and natural ecosystems filled with wildlife have to be cut and cleared to make all those factories and trucks. Land will be covered in asphalt for parking and roads. Wildlife erased. That can of soda is bad for you. Bottled water can have carcinogens and processed food is linked to obesity. They left a path of destruction on their way to you. Drink local, Floyd water. It is cleaner here in our mountains than most places on earth. Instead of recycling that can, drink local water and don't buy aluminum cans, plastic bottles, packaged processed food. Better for you. Better for the Earth!
7. Locally grown food is fresher. Many fruits, vegetables and even meat comes from long distances. Sometimes across the world. Produce is not ripe when picked and often old when purchased. Disease bacteria have longer to multiply. Nutrition declines.
8. 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, healthiest and the least expensive. Stick some in your freezer for the winter. Freezing is quick, easy and actually uses a little less resources than canning and you don't need a factory somewhere to freeze it for you. Learn more about foods that grow well here in Floyd so you can garden some of your own. You might even try learning about some terrific wild foods and eat some weeds instead of using pesticides on them.
9. Supporting local Farmers supports responsible land development. When you buy local, you give farmers an economic reason to keep their farmland healthy and productive. Farmers that can sell their food locally can stay in business instead of selling their land to the highest bidder. Good farmers protect their soil and are more attuned to keeping their land productive for generations into the future. Here in Floyd we all love this beautiful land. We want to keep our forests and our farmland healthy. Support our Farmers.
10. And last - but not least - Buying locally grown food is good for the Soul! Everyone knows that good community is important to mental and physical health. When you buy local you get to see your neighbors more often. You get to meet more folks at the local stores and markets. You can find out what is happening in our town. Get to know and connect to the people living around you. You get more smiles in your day. Maybe even some hugs. You will be happier and so will your neighbors!
Land's Sake - Floyd's Journey Ahead. This FREE event will take place on April 16th at the Floyd County High School from 9:30am to 3:00 pm. Partnership for Floyd is sponsoring individuals, businesses and organizations sharing ideas about our land – how to use it, preserve it, protect it, and better understand our relationship to it. There will be information on agriculture, natural resources, local products, energy efficiency, and more. There will be good coffee, tasty local food, Entertaining, educational presentations and lots of great conversation.
For more information, please contact Karin Grosshans at (540)239-0375 or Lynn Carden at (757)355-0010 or email Jane Cundiff at PartnershipForFloyd@gmail.com. See http://is.gd/o3bE3j for more details.
Article by Jane Cundiff / Photo by Fred First
