The average meal travels ~1,500 miles to reach your plate.
It's time to shorten the trip.
We need to be honest about industrial farming. It feeds the world, but at what cost? By the time a tomato gets from a huge industrial farm in another country to your local supermarket, it’s lost its flavor and its nutrients. It's been modified to ripen artificially and sat on a truck for days.
There's a better way. It’s not an expensive scheme, but actually a drastically better choice. Locally grown food is the most logical, delicious, and economically great way to eat. Here's why you need to make the switch.
Ever wonder why a grocery store strawberry tastes like wet cardboard? It was picked before it was ripe so it wouldn't rot in transit. Local farmers pick produce at peak ripeness. You are eating it when nature intended, usually within 24 hours of harvest. The difference is drastic.
When you buy from a chain, money leaves your town. When you buy from a local farmer, that money stays in the community. It pays for their kids' dance lessons, their equipment repairs at the local mechanic, and keeps the land from being turned into another mall.
Industrial farms grow one or two types of vegetables designed to survive a extended transport, not to taste particularly good. Local farms grow heirloom varieties—hundreds of types of tomatoes, peppers, and greens that big ag has forgotten about. We are losing biodiversity; eating local helps save it.
We saw what happened to supply chains recently. Shelves went completely empty. Local food systems are decentralized, meaing they're far more resilient. Relying on a neighbor for eggs is a lot safer than relying on a factory farm three states away.
You can look the person in the eye who grew your dinner and ask them how they treat the soil. Try doing that at a supermarket.