Most people don’t hesitate to bite into a seemingly fresh apple from a nearby grocery store, but is the apple actually as fresh as it looks? The products sold at the grocery store aren’t actually “picked at the prime of the season” like the stores claim. Because the process of bringing food from farm to table takes much longer than one may think, many preservatives are used to keep the produce from rotting and wilting. As a result of the heavy usage of artificial additives, the goods shipped to chain grocery stores lack the freshness that food straight off the farm yields, and as the food is transported over long distances, it starts to lose both nutrients and fiber. The easiest way to avoid the consequences of consuming food with antibiotics and growth hormones is to buy from local farmer’s markets.

Besides being fresher and preservative free, buying locally grown food has several other benefits for one’s body. According to sources at the Sustainable Table, consuming minimally processed produce can lessen the risk of getting cancer and increase one’s colon function and intake of nutrients. Eating local food means eating food that is harvested at the peak of the season when the produce contains the maximum amount of flavor and nutrients. Instead of travelling thousands of miles to grocery stores around the world, the food sold at local farmer’s markets only travel a few miles, so the produce remains fresh and full of fiber.

Mrs. Slaughter, the sponsor of the Avant Garden club stated, “What I value the most in food is most definitely the freshness. There is nothing in the world better than eating a bunch of fruits and vegetables that are fresh from the garden. My family has always eaten healthy and we’ve even tended our own organic crops in our garden.” Furthermore, she stated that the next place she would turn to for organic and sustainable food would be the farmer’s market. “I just absolutely love farmer’s markets because I can taste the fruit that is so fresh that it is picked the morning of the market. I go to a few markets, and each of them sell the freshest produce around. Sometimes when I eat the produce, I can even taste the “sunshine” that they were grown in. Eating sustainably and organically are just a few reasons I started the Avant Garden club, and I plan to keep recruiting more sustainable farmers here at Canyon Vista.”

As Mrs. Slaughter stated, buying local is an easy thing to do. Here in Austin, there are over 5 farmer’s markets located all around the city. Not only are the markets easy to access, they also operate year round and in both rain and shine so shoppers can rely on the quality of fresh food all week long. Featuring dozens of farmers and award-winning food artisans, the farmer’s markets in Austin are hot spots that feature activities for the whole family. At the SFC Farmer’s Market Downtown, shoppers can even sample the fresh food while their kids can play in the Imagination Playground.

Shopping local also has many other benefits such as taking steps to protect the environment. Due to the current market conditions, shipping produce across long distances has become increasingly cheaper and as the prices for shipping drop, more and more grocery stores start relying on imported goods. Unfortunately, having food shipped long distances has many terrible effects on our environment. According to eLocal, when it comes to shipping food, “Trucks and locomotives are responsible for 25% of smog-causing pollution and the majority of the cancer threat posed by air pollution in urban areas and aircraft transport has greater fuel consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions per mile than any other mode of transport. When food is transported by ship, it produces emissions of over 1 billion metric tons of CO2 and 11 billion tons of fuel annually.” In addition, eLocal also states that “Because food processing uses a lot of packaging, which is necessary for large farms to keep food from spoiling as it is transported, there is a lot of plastic waste, which is often difficult to reuse or recycle.” As a result, the Environment Protection Agency concludes the United States has used 11.9 million tons of plastic package, 90% of which was disposed into a landfill after just one use. Unfortunately, once the plastic hits the landfills, it takes more than 450 years to decompose, adding much more methane and pollution to our atmosphere. To help prevent these harmful effects, people should support and buy from locally owned farms which don’t pollute the environment. As an added advantage, when local farmers grow and harvest their crops, farmland is protected and nutrients are brought back to the soil to be reused again and again.

When people buy produce from local farms, they also make many important contributions to the community. They provide more workers with jobs on farms and lessen the risk of harmful accidents that occur in industrial food facilities. Even as these workers work under extreme stress and are prone to accidents, many large scale companies don’t pay them enough, and they are cheated out of their work. Another article from the Sustainable Table states that, “A truly sustainable farm treats farm workers with respect, pays them a fair wage, and protects them from unnecessary dangers. Which food you choose at the supermarket ultimately affects the lives of these farmers and workers. Though there are many local organic farms that support workers rights and even help unionize their workers, just because a farm is “organic” does not automatically mean that working conditions there are safe and fair. Getting to know the farm where you buy your food will help bring you closer to those who produce it, and enable you to know that you are supporting fair labor practices.” Some actions anyone can take to help these workers in the fields are to buy from local farms and markets, and if that isn’t possible, to buy Certified Fair Trade products to ensure that workers get fair wages.

Eating locally bought food not only benefits people in the community, it also loads people with a variety of helpful nutrients. As the common saying goes, “You are what you eat,” and locally grown food is fresh and healthy- something   everyone wishes to be. Remember, if you ever have the choice between purchasing industrially produced food and locally grown products, don’t hesitate to do yourself a favor. Go local.