EAT LOCAL, BECOME A LOCAVORE
Did you know that the typical American prepared meal contains, on average, ingredients from at least five different countries? Some common imported foods that may be on your table are coffee, vanilla, rice, bananas, tea, spices, and fish. Other foods you may enjoy that travel thousands of miles to your plate are cherries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, tomatoes, bell peppers, and asparagus.
Many of these foods can be grown right in your backyard or by the farmer down the country road. Eating local, which is termed as a locavore, provides many benefits to not only your health but also to the economy. A locavore is the practice of eating a diet consisting of food harvested from within an area most commonly bound by a 100 mile radius. Being in Wisconsin, we have access to great farms and resources for a locavore diet. Wisconsin is ranked 15th for being the most locavore state!
BENEFITS
Statistics state in the United States, the average grocery store’s produce travels 1,500 miles between the far, where it is grown before it reaches your refrigerator. Approximately forty percent of fruit is produced overseas and nine percent of red meat comes from foreign countries. Fortunately, Viking Village offers products that are produced locally.
CHECK LABELS
When shopping around, check the labels or signs that state where the food was produced or made. The more food travels, the fewer nutrients it contains and the more susceptible they become to contracting disease and bacteria. When foods are produced and purchased locally, the travel time diminishes and there is less of a chance for the food to contract bacteria or disease since fewer hands are touching the product. Imported foods travel on average 7 to 14 days before it even reaches the grocery store. Every day the produce is losing nutrients and more hands and surfaces are touching the product, possibly contaminating it.
Freshness
Also, eating local means you are probably eating fresh too. Because local foods are most likely grown during season, their freshness factor is high and thus, these foods are eaten at their peak taste. Also, foods produced during the season are the most abundant and least expensive. For example, apple season is quickly approaching and during the fall, apples are everywhere and fairly inexpensive.
COMMUNITY
Eating local benefits the community as well. Farmers’ markets enable local farmers to keep about 80 to 90 cents of each dollar spent by the consumer. Local farmers receive about 3.5 cents for every dollar spent on food whereas the money, if not local, would’ve gone to suppliers, processors, middlemen, and marketers, far from the farm and consumer.
It has been estimated that every dollar spent on local food brings three dollars to the local economy where money spent on imported foods produces less than a dollar and a half. The money that is brought back into the community from purchasing local is transformed into thriving main streets and local jobs.
ECO-FRIENDLY
Buying local foods also promotes sustainability. Being sustainable means food productions methods do no harm the environment, respect the workers, are human to animals, provide fair wages to farmers, and support farming communities. Buying local provides an economic reason and maintains our farmland and green space. Also, purchasing local connects the community by creating a connection with the buyer and the farmer, gardener, etc. A word of caution, not all local foods and farmers are sustainable- it is important to ask the farmers or gardeners.
So how do you become a locavore? Learn what produce is available during specific seasons and shop at local stores and farmers’ markets. As mentioned earlier, Viking Village offers many options that are produced locally. Checking the label on products will also let you know just how local the food is and whether it is imported from a different country. Join a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group which sends you a box of produce or other items from a local farmer or gardener. Lastly, support business and companies that source locally.
Dishin’ Out Healthy- Health Educator: Nichelle
“Shipping is a terrible thing to do to vegetables. They probably get jet-lagged, just like people.” -Elizabeth Berry
Find out what’s available fresh in Wisconsin during the year from the list offered from wisc.edu: Wisconsin Produce Calendar
