Why eat local?

If you are reading this, chances are you already know the benefits of buying food from local vendors when you visit the Menominee County Farm & Food Exchange.

You know that…

Local food is fresher and more flavorful. In most cases, the produce at our market was picked within the day before sale. No cross-country travel for our fruits and vegetables! Because of this, it’s also more nutritious.

Buying local enables you to learn from growers how the food was grown. Our growers will happily talk to you about their produce and sometimes even share favorite recipes. Same goes for the vendors who offer honey, wine, baked goods and other products for sale at the M&M Farmers Market.

Locally-produced food is safer. The fewer steps between harvest and your market basket mean fewer opportunities for contamination.

Eating locally allows you to eat seasonally, savoring strawberries in mid-summer and chomping on apples in October. Eating seasonal foods offers another way to enjoy each of our four seasons. Of course, you can always freeze summer produce to enjoy all year long.

Eating locally helps support the local economy. The money you spend is in turn spent close to home by people you know. Your local food purchase also helps maintain local farmland and green space.

If you know someone who’s not convinced, just print this article and hand it to them. Make ‘em believe!

Source: Michigan State University Extension