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Food & Agriculture

The "food miles" issue: Why buying local products does matter

Buying local products, builds local economy, which in turn builds efficiency. This is a common sense solution to help build the morale of farmers across the country. First of all you know where the food comes from, which with some food in the grocery store could have originated from somewhere 5000 miles away.
Locally produced food is more likely to be fresh. The faster the food can get to the market the fresher it is. Most people would then agree to say that the fresher the product, the more nutrients it contains. As produce ages, so does its nutritional value.
With less time wasted on shipping, there is simply more time to enjoy the food. The risks associated with products being damaged during transport goes up the father it goes. The means less headaches for insurance companies and supermarkets that want freshness guaranteed. There would be nothing worse then ordering a pallet of carrots only to find that have of them will have top be thrown away because there were some hefty transport delays.
This can be avoided if we did not over import and focused more on buying from local sources.
Although there will always be a need to import exotic goods from other countries, there will be a hefty price to pay for countries that totally rely on imported food. Especially in Northern areas where the growing seasons are short, there are advantages to buying local. When the demand increases for there products, farmers will have more motivation to grow a wider selection of crops, which will then result in abundant supplies. Some grow houses can operate all year long even through the cold winters. No longer will farmers have only one crop for their whole income.
With the food crisis spread across the news, people are staring to realize that their food comes from farmer's fields, not just factories and grocery stores. Locally purchased produce will increase respect for the farming profession, which has been looked down upon by many in the industrialized world.
The more we purchase local farmers markets; we will begin to have more respect for our food, which in turn will result in less waste. If there is a food shortage in this world, it's probably because lots of it is wasted rotting in containers because it could not be sold.

Many grocery stores now have labels telling you whether food is from a local or non-local. Why don't we all start to keep that in mind next time we go to the store to pick up some carrots.

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The "food miles" issue: Why buying local products does matter

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The "food miles" issue: Why buying local products does matter

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