Why Buy Local

I have another list for you. I do love lists. Does that say something about my personality type? Hmmm. That may be a topic for another day! Haha.

Ten Reasons to Buy Local

1. The Walton family doesn't need another mansion, but your local farmer's kid does need new cleats for baseball season. 
2. Local farms create jobs for many uneducated laborers who cannot find employment elsewhere. 
3. If your local economy is struggling, your job may depend on keeping your money local. 
4. Small family farms are less likely to use pesticides, herbicides, hormones, and antibiotics on the food they grow. 
5. Feed lots are disgusting. Thousands of animals crammed into small spaces, standing in their own feces, eating genetically modified grain, are given high doses of antibiotics because the conditions make them sick. You want to eat those animals?
6. Produce in America is shipped an average of 1500 miles to get from the grower to your table. Do you know how much gas those airplanes take? How much smog that creates? How much heat is produced by all those trucks driving lettuce cross-country? 
7. Local products typically have less or even no packaging because they don't travel far. 
8. Most produce is picked 4 or more days before it gets to the shelf, so it must be picked before it's completely ripe. Local produce is typically picked the same day and at it's peak, meaning it will look better and taste better. It will also have more nutrients.
9. Preserve open spaces. If local farms cannot create enough income, they sell their land for development. 
10. Strengthen your community. When you buy local, you meet the people whose products you buy and form relationships with farmers, artisans, bakers, shopkeepers, and more.