Why is it important to support our local Virginia state food system?
Buying local food strengthens Virginia’s regional economy …
- Purchasing food that was grown and harvested locally keeps your money circulating within your community, keeping wealth in your region
- Buying local food supports family farmers in your community, some of whom have farmed the land for generations
- Supporting local farms can help to create jobs for your region
- A strong local economy insulates your region from national and global recessions
- Local farmers markets and CSA farms provide places for community members to meet, socialize, and discuss issues
- By helping family farms financially, you sustain your family and community with delicious, healthy local foods!
- Buying local lets you connect with your food producer concerning the safety and nutrition of your foods…
- Locally-grown foods can be high in nutrients, often reaching you within 24 hours of harvest, while produce shipped from out of state may be up to a week old and has often suffered from severe nutrient loss
- When you buy locally, we can ask whether the farmers use safe farming practices, what they spray on their crops, what they feed to their animals and we can develop a relationship with our farmers
- Buying local preserves the natural environment …
- By supporting local Virginia agriculture, you protect your Virginia’s farmland from urban sprawl and development and protects natural ecosystems, and biodiversity
- Buying local food helps to reduce dependence on foreign oil needed to ship food thousands of miles, thus cutting back on greenhouse gas emissions.
Also see:
