In recent years the American public has gained a heightened sense of social responsibility and environmental accountability. We’ve learned about global warming and climate change (with its detriments and ill-effects, controversy and conflict), about alternate fuel and energy sources, and sustainable resources. We’ve become conscientious citizens of the human race – recycling anything and everything whenever and wherever possible, opting to use reusable canvas sacks when shopping in an effort to lessen our waste, and demanding energy efficiency with all we come in contact with in order to decrease the size of our carbon footprint. We’ve come to understand that the day-to-day choices we make in our lifetime can have dramatic consequences even years down the road for our people and our planet, and we’ve decided to change our ways to reduce our impact.

            Some of us have made major lifestyle changes – trading in that old gas-guzzling SUV for a smaller, more compact and fuel-efficient hybrid or Smart car; or in extreme cases eliminating our car altogether, replacing it instead with a bicycle, scooter, or our own two legs (supplementing our efforts with public transportation, perhaps). Unfortunately, changes such as these are just not feasible for the majority of Americans whose time and money is already stretched thin in wake of the recent economic downturn and collapse. For many, the changes are small and seemingly insignificant. Thankfully though, good things often come in small packages.

            Each day more and more Americans are making the decision to buy locally grown produce, rather than to purchase the same items from large-scale agricultural businesses. Knowing that produce begins to lose its vital nutrients within minutes of being picked and that the mass-cultivated fruits and vegetables they usually buy in the store was picked an average of 4-7days prior to their purchase date (and that’s just for those grown in the U.S), people are choosing the fresher and more nutritious option. With a shorter “commute” from farmyard to tabletop, locally grown produce is not only more highly packed with essential vitamins and nutrients, but is (more often than not) crisper, juicier, and just plain overall better-tasting.   

            But concern for self-health is not the only thing that has individuals driving to the local farmers market on a weekly basis for the freshest of the fresh seasonal crops. There are many different and widespread benefits to growing and buying locally. As local farms experience an influx in demand for their produce (and therefore become more lucrative and/or successful), the likelihood of seeing that now valuable farmland either bought or sold for development purposes diminishes rapidly. With that we are helping to preserve open spaces which, in turn, then benefit the native wildlife by safeguarding their habitat and thus ensuring their livelihood. Properly used and maintained open spaces also prove advantageous on a much larger scale by helping to combat global warming. In the “off season” cover crops are planted by farmers in an effort to prevent erosion of the land and to replace vital nutrients back into the soil used by their seasonal produce. Once properly matured, these cover crops capture harmful emissions and therefore help lessen our carbon footprint.

          As consumers, growing and buying locally also provides us with much-needed benefits (or relief) from an economic standpoint. First, there is the issue of helping to keep local taxes in check – perhaps even contributing to the lowering of taxes in some cases. A good deal of government spending is determined in large by the amount and source of revenue raised within the community. For every dollar raised through development projects, the government spends approximately $1.17 on services, which typically results in an increase in taxes since the money spent is less than the money earned. Protecting open spaces (farms and forests), on the other hand, helps to alleviate the stress and burden of taxes because for every dollar raised by that type of land, the government spends on average just $0.34 for services. This surplus of revenue then effectively diminishes the need for the local government to look for additional sources of income, such as taxes, to support its ongoing projects and endeavors.

            A second benefit (again, from an economic standpoint) of growing and buying locally is the sustainability of such an enterprise. Simply put, sustainable businesses are those that provide goods or services to people without negatively impacting the local community or economy. Another way to think about this concept is that a sustainable business “recycles” its profits back into the community by supporting other local businesses that offer goods or services which it itself needs. This, in effect, then bolsters the local economy by providing more job security to local residents. Support of local farmers and growers is highly sustainable because these individuals typically reinvest more money into the local economy (than large-scale agricultural businesses) by purchasing feed, seed, and other necessary materials from local businesses.

On average, just $0.18 of each dollar spent on produce from conglomerate farming businesses goes back to the growers; the remaining $0.82 goes to the middlemen responsible for tasks such as packaging and shipping.  At your local farmers market, however, the middlemen are essentially cut-out for all practical purposes and these growers typically keep between eighty and ninety cents from each dollar spent by consumers. More money in the pockets of local growers means greater potential for reinvestment into other local businesses. And, as small farms become more profitable as the interest in and demand for their produce increases, consumers will likely see a decrease in amount they spend on produce each month as prices decline correspondingly. Each time you decide to buy locally grown produce, you are helping to stimulate economic recovery by supporting your people and your community – redistributing the wealth as opposed to concentrating it into the hands of the rich few that own and operate larger-scale farming productions.

             Growing and buying locally is a simple way of recognizing the accountability of our actions. It is an ideology that is undeniably beneficial to all parties involved. Changing our habits as consumers by choosing (or even demanding) locally grown produce instead of the corporate-grown alternatives, is a means of saying no to the corruption of wealth and power. Each time we go to a farmers market or purchase produce in the grocery store that is advertized as “locally grown”, we are saying yes to the continued support and protection of ourselves, our environment, our community and its’ economy. Perhaps this is why more people are buying locally grown produce now than ever before!