Why Local?
Buying locally…
Protects Freshness, Flavor and Nutrients
Locally raised food has traveled a short distance from the farm to your table, often reaching you within 24 hours of its harvest, so it’s miles fresher. Fresher products taste better and contain more vitamins and antioxidants. Because of the short distance to local markets, local farmers are also free to choose from diverse flavor varieties rather than the limited varieties that endure shipping, handling and lengthy storage.
Strengthens Our Local Economy
Spending your money on locally grown food is an investment in our community. It keeps your food dollars circulating in our community, protecting and enhancing the general welfare.
Supports Family Farmers
When family farmers must sell through national and international channels, much of their potential profit is lost through the costs of transportation, processing, packaging and advertising, leaving many struggling to keep the farm and frequently forced to take off-farm work to supplement their family’s income. When you buy directly from your local farmer, the farmer receives a larger portion of the food dollar and is more likely to be able to support their family by farming.
Preserves Local Farmland
When farms are not viable and must be sold, the cultural farming heritage that has long been associated with Bucks County and has produced some of our most cherished landscapes and memories is lost. Preserving local farmland also protects our future food security in the face of global warming climatic changes.
Builds Community
Buying from your local farmer allows you to know and trust the person who grows your food. It also allows the farmer to personally know and care for the people they are growing their food for. Local farmers markets and CSA’s also are great places to meet neighbors and friends.
Protects the Earth and Its Inhabitants
When you buy local, fresh, sustainably grown food you are avoiding all the fossil fuels that are used to produce chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides and to process, package and transport your food the 1,300 to 1,500 miles the average item travels. Only 10% of the fossil fuels used in the global food system are used to grow the food. Buying fresh and locally is one of the most effective choices a person can make to combat global warming and to reduce air and water pollution. In addition, buying locally and sustainably grown food supports biodiversity, increasing our resilience to the extreme weather changes that accompany global warming. It also helps ensure that we are treating the animals that produce our food with respect, since the small, local farmers growing sustainably in Bucks County are not part of concentrated animal feeding operations, instead growing their animals in fresh air and on healthy pastures as nature intended.
Buying and Eating Local is just a plain good thing!