Why We Should Eat Local
www.aitc.ca/bc
Reasons to Buy Local Food
Taken from “Think Global, Eat Local” By Katie Leikermoser, B.H.E., B, Ed. Summer Institute 2002
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 flavour. 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 Fresh produce often 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.
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 flavours. Many varieties are heirlooms, passed down for generations. These old varieties contain genetic material from hundreds 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 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.
Reasons to Buy Local Food
Taken from “Think Global, Eat Local” By Katie Leikermoser, B.H.E., B, Ed. Summer Institute 2002
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 flavour. 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 Fresh produce often 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.
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 flavours. Many varieties are heirlooms, passed down for generations. These old varieties contain genetic material from hundreds 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 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.