9 benefits of buying food from local farms
In a globalized world, each act is a vote!
Each day, the choices you make about where you buy your fruits, vegetables, clothes etc has an impact. It is these choices which have been stimulated by a society with a consumerist and productivist vision that have brought us to where we are today.
Today, we need to know how to participate at our scale in order to create the world in which we want to live. Therefore, buying your tomato from a local producer is far from being a lost act! If we all multiply these choices, eventually society will be able to evolve.
9 benefits of buying food from local farms
1. Supporting farmers: the money given by consumers goes directly to the producer enabling them to be less pressured by the market. Therefore, the farmer is free to grow organically and in poly-cultures instead of trying to meet quotas imposed by the market by intensifying agriculture practices.
2. Maintaining food security by encouraging healthy practices: no pesticides in the environment.
3. Reducing water waste: no pollution of underground water due to pesticide usage.
4. Creating jobs by preferring multiple small-sized agricultural exploitations rather than fewer big monocultures (mechanized and exploited by a small number of farmers).
5. Supporting regional culture
6. Keeping the earth healthy: intensive agricultural practices leads to the degradation of fertile soils.
7. Reducing climate change: by reducing transport and the usage of fertilizers.
8. Preserving biodiversity: by the non-usage of pesticides and encouraging growing in polycultures.
9. Conservation of food diversity: many varieties of foods are not known by traditional markets because they are less “productive”.
Where to buy?
Go to local farm markets, or if you can the farms themselves. However, if this is not possible, associations have been created which collect food from producers and then distribute it to members. A way of consuming locally via circuits that do not go through market fluctuations; for example as they are no transportation costs, petrol prices will not impact the price.
In France these are called AMAP ( Association pour le maintien d’une Agriculture Paysanne).
- AMAP: http://www.reseau-amap.org/
- La ruche qui dit oui: http://www.laruchequiditoui.fr/
In Italy, “Filiera corta” is the term used to allow a direct exchange between local farmers and consumers.
You can find more informations here:
- GAS (Gruppo Acquisto Solidale) : http://www.retegas.org/
There are certainly similar organizations in your country to enable you to consume locally via circuits that do not go through market fluctuations. Have a look and please share!
Remember,
In a globalized world, each act is a vote!
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