Continuing with the trends, the fourth one is Locavores. I’ve written about this trend before. This is the desire to eat foods that are grown, raised or manufactured locally, typically within 100 or so miles of where you live. This means scouting out the farmers markets in your area, buying from family farms that sell directly to the public by direct sales or CSA memberships, or buying from local companies (think United Dairy or Saris Candies).
There are lots of reasons to shop local. Only 18 cents of the food purchase dollar in large supermarket chains goes to the grower. 82 cents goes to the chain or various middlemen. Why not eliminate the middlemen and support the local farmer?
- Food dollars stay in the local economy.
- I get to know the person growing my food and the conditions under which it was raised.
- I get to support the health of the environment and of my family.
Or, grow it yourself.
The other way to be a locavore, of course, is growing your own herbs, fruit and veggies in your back yard– or front yard if you live where this won’t cause your neighbors to throw a hissy-fit.
At Ferda’s we can help with this last idea. We’ll soon have our seeds in stock, followed by cool weather veggie transplants, then warm weather veggies, berries and other small fruits. We’ll have the pots and soil you need to start your own transplants if you want to go that route. And, as the season progresses to the “harvest” stage, we’ll have canning and preserving supplies and information to make eating locally possible even when fresh is no longer available.
