Choosing Local Foods - Is it Worth the Price?

By Bridget Rodewald, Exec. Dir. Keller Farmer's Market

With household budgets working double time to keep up with escalating costs, is buying local foods worth their price tag?

Purchasing local foods supports your health, your community and the local economy.  Produce such as lettuces, tomatoes and carrots have been bred for durability to travel long distances, on average 1,500 miles, which compromises its flavor and nutrition. When buying local foods, you are picking food that has been harvested at just the right time and brought to market often times hours from the field which yields the highest nutritional value.

Local farmers markets and farm stands may also sell heirloom varieties that are more delicate and will not tolerate travelling long distances. Heirloom produce is a flavor explosion, not watered down like their hybrid counterparts.

Eating locally grown food supports your community by keeping your food dollars within the community. Local farmers who sell direct to the consumers receive a larger share of the profit for their food and spend their money with local merchants. Since 1935, the U.S. has lost 4.7 million farms to urbanization and corporate farming. When local farmers increase their profit, they are better able to expand their offerings.

While the price tag may be higher due to smaller scale farming operations, the benefits are far more valuable than the cost. Keeping it local means increasing your health and increasing the viability of long-term success for our nation’s farmers. You will also build relationships with your farmers and know your food source.

With over 6,100 farmers markets and farm stands in America, 122 of those in Texas, it’s easier than ever to find a local food source in order to preserve farmland, create sustainable jobs, and provide food for Americans.

For the freshest, best tasting food available shop at your local farmers market, farm stand; find one in your area at www.picktexas.com, http://www.localharvest.org/ or www.foodroutes.org.   Additionally, look for the Go Texan logo on product packaging to feel more confident that it’s grown in Texas.

Bridget Rodewald is the executive director of the Keller Farmers Market.  She believes it is not enough to simply talk about eating right. She believes in actively participating with one's own health by cooking real food, knowing where it comes from and supporting those who produce it.