Buy local, Eat local and Eat In Season

Who are the farmers in your neighborhood?  Find out and support them while enjoying their products.  Know where your food comes from.  Read labels and buy from local and organic farms if possible.  Krankies Farmers Market is a great place to do this.  The Krankies Farmers' Market,  a joint effort between Triad Buying Co-op Inc. and Krankies Coffee, features locally and sustainably grown and/or produced foods, including vegetables, fruit, honey, eggs, cheese, pasture-fed meat and bread, as well as flowers and plants.  The market is open every Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. through the end of November.   Also check out Reynolda Farm Market.  They have locally grown fresh produce, some of which is organic, goat cheese, eggs, honey, poultry and some meat. It is located at 1206 Reynolda Road and is open Monday-Saturday from 7am-8pm.  

For more information on local farms, farm markets, and local food, visit Slow Food Piedmont’s local sustainable food guide.  We also encourage you to check out some of PEA’s member farms: Moser Manor Farm, Sanders Ridge Vineyard & Winery Organic Farm,  Mother Holtz Farm, Crosscreek Farm, Felsbeck Farm, Shore Farms Organic, Dodge Lodge Farm, Dancing Iris Earthscapes, and Gary Owen Organic Produce.
 
As spring transitions to summer, we welcome a great opportunity to commit to reducing our impact on the planet buy buying local and in season.  Our area’s long growing season and number of great farms make it easy.  The average meal in the US travels 1,200-2,500 miles from field to plate, and produce can spend 7-14 days from the time of harvest to being placed in the supermarket. Our low energy costs allow this to be a profitable way to produce and sell food to the masses. However, this is not a sustainable practice for the environment. 

Buying from local farms reduces carbon dioxide emissions and reduces the use of packaging materials. A basic diet of imported ingredients can require up to four times the energy of an equivalent locally-sourced diet. Buying local food not only helps local farmers thrive, it also reduces energy consumption. One of the largest and fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions is food transportation.  Freezing, refrigerating, and trucking food requires energy.   Local produce is usually sold within 24 hours of harvest, providing fresher, tastier and healthier food for you.  Fruit and vegetables commonly found in grocery stores are chosen for their durability to industrial harvesting machines and long travel times, not for their taste.  Locally you can find more flavorful and unique varieties.   

Local food, even if it is not organic, is usually safer.  There have been increased incidences of recalls from contaminated produce.  Monocultures and globalized food increase the risk of contamination from the time involved in travel and stops along the way.  A recent study published in the June issue of Pediatrics has reported a possible link between ADHD in children and exposure to common pesticides used on fruit and vegetables (http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/peds.2009-3058v1).  In the study, urine samples were taken from over 1,000 children to determine if they contained a compound that is created by the breakdown of a commonly used agricultural pesticide.  "Each 10-fold increase in urinary concentration of organophosphate metabolites was associated with a 55% to 72% increase in the odds of ADHD," says lead study author Maryse F. Bouchard, PhD, of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Montreal.  Ninety-four percent of the children tested had the compound present.  It was not identified if the kids came in contact with the pesticides by eating food, drinking contaminated water, or possibly breathing in air laced with the pesticide.  It can however, be noted that the pesticide did co-inside with an increase in ADHD.  Even the trace amounts of pesticides allowed by the EPA as “safe” are showing up in our children and are causing problems.  Knowing where your food comes from allows you to ask questions of the growers and choose farms that don’t use chemicals, pesticides, or hormones.  Local farmers have a relationship with their products and know what is happening on their fields and in their pastures.  

Buying local also builds a stronger local economy and community.  “A dollar spent on local products and services can circulate in the community up to 15 times.  A 10% change in purchasing from national chain stores to locally owned businesses each year would create 1,600 new jobs and yield nearly $200 million in incremental economic activity.”  (http://www.livingeconomies.org/netview/resources-and-studies/LFstudies).  According to the USDA, small farms in the US are more productive in dollars per acre than large ones.  Yet, in 2002, farmers earned their lowest real net cash income since 1940, while corporate agribusiness profits have nearly doubled since 1990.  Our population and food needs have increased, yet 4.7 million farms have disappeared since 1935.   The trend toward giant corporate farms producing and shipping our food has changed what we eat and the quality of our food.   

Find the farmers in your neighborhood.  Support them while enjoying their products, and know where your food comes from.