Four reasons to Eat Local
Your food doesn’t need a passport
Do you love to travel? We do.
You can glimpse history through the leaning tower of Pisa or Rome’s crumbling Colosseum. Marvel at the variety of our planet’s landscapes by hiking in the Himalayas or enjoying the aqua waters of the Caribbean. Take in the sights, sounds, and smells—not to mention tastes—of local markets from Bogota to Beijing.
Traveling to other places is exhilarating and mind-broadening. But when it comes to the food that you eat, the best way to take care of your body is to shop locally and seasonally. Here are four reasons to do just that:
4 reasons to eat local
Have you ever heard of Food miles? That’s the distance that your food has traveled. If you’re not shopping locally, a simple salad could rack up hundreds, if not thousands, of food miles. And this concept of traveling food affects other aspects of your meals that you probably haven’t considered.
Variety
When was the last time you saw sunflower sprouts, mizuna or purslane at your grocery store? There’s a good reason that your supermarket’s produce offerings are so monotonous: It doesn’t make sense to stock produce with a short shelf life. This limits variety. If you do all your shopping there, you may not be aware that there are thousands of varieties of your favorite fruits and vegetables. Carrots come in many colors besides orange. Take a trip to your local farm and see the abundance of nutrients that nature has to offer.
Nutrition
Much of the produce at the grocery store has been bred specifically to increase grower profits through higher yields, increased pest resistance and faster time to harvest. Commercially grown fruits and vegetables are also picked before they are fully ripe so that they’ll withstand shipping and last longer in stores. As a result of all these factors, studies have shown that the nutrition profiles of these fruits and vegetables have actually worsened. Eat local to get the most nutritional value from your produce.
Flavor
Ever wonder why that farmer’s market tomato you bought in July tasted so much better than the perfectly round grocery store tomato you picked up in February? It’s because of that breeding we just mentioned. Along with diminishing nutrition profiles, these varieties often suffer from diminishing flavor.
Seasonal Eating
Nature gives us the things we need when we need them. By eating seasonally, you’re giving your body an increased variety of nutrients, not to mention flavors. When you source your produce from a local farm, you’ll become more in tune with the environment around you, learning what your hometown can offer in each season. Eat local to stay in touch with your surroundings.
If you live in the DMV, check out Area 2 Farms—an organic farm right here in your community. We are Nate and Tyler, your local farmers, growing fresh, organic, always-in-season vegetables just for you. We believe that communities are nourished by connection, and we work every day to deepen and expand those connections with our farm here in Arlington. Our growth is rooted in the oldest techniques and powered by the newest technologies.
Come visit us and see where your vegetables are from, how we grow them, and which seeds we’re sowing next.
And remember: Traveling is great—for people, not food. So keep your passport up to date, plan your trips, and enjoy the local cuisines. But when you come home, eat locally. Because the best food for your body is grown right where you live.
