Local Food Movement
The local food movement, which also know as regional food, or food patriotism, is a new trend that has been sweeping the nation with its ingenuity. Local food is all about building locally based, self-reliant food economies. They idea is to get people in small concentrated areas to spend their money on products that come from those same areas as opposed to buying products and food that are mass produced and then shipped out to a whole bunch of faraway places. People have even coined a term for themselves after joining this movement know as “localvores” and it’s catching on quite quickly.
The movement, albeit pretty widespread is still very subjective and a lot of people interpret it differently than others might. For some people “local” is within their state while for others it means within driving distance which could be anywhere up to 400 miles away. With the transportation industry as it is nowadays the term local can be pretty loose. Much of the confusion is caused by food that is grown close to a store it’s sold at but in the process of the conventional food industry actually travels far out of the way before returning to it’s original are. This has led many consumers to demand to know how far their food has traveled and from where it originated. Much of this comes down to proper food labeling. Currently the FDA doesn’t regulate or require a great deal of the labels that the general public is demanding be on food, and much of the information they would like to get from such labels isn't provided either. Some of this has led to the boycotting of certain brands of food because of their refusal to provide or disclose such information to consumers.
The idea behind most of the local food movement is not only a respect for the local communities and economies but also a means to keep our planet healthy and safe. By buying local food you are consuming less resources and requiring that your food travel shorter distances to get to you which means there are less emissions, less resources used to package, save, and store food while it’s being shipped or processed. For this reason alone it could save tons of resources if everyone made an effort to eat food that was locally grown or produced near their own communities. A lot of people also choose this route because it helps them eat healthier and live a ore holistic lifestyle. Such eating can also keep you in tune with the seasons and changes of your area because you’ll be eating food as it’s grown and produced near you.
This may be difficult for some people who like to eat a lot of exotic foods or who are willing to pay more to eat things out of season but a lot of people really enjoy it and the benefits it provides the environment are substantial so it’s well worth the extra effort. Take some time to look into local food in your area and see if you can make some changes in your diet.