Healthy Lifestyles
Decreasing your intake of highly-processed foods and choosing more farm fresh produce, meat, and dairy products is an important step in improving overall health and well-being. Eating seasonally from local farms also encourages you to explore new and different foods that may lead to a more varied and balanced diet.
Support of Agriculture & the Local Economy
Purchasing foods from local purveyors helps to support Montgomery County’s rich agricultural resources and offers an opportunity to take part in helping to keep farming families in business. Shopping locally also means the money is kept right here in Montgomery County where it can be reinvested in our communities to fund all sorts of activities and improvements.
Environment
Even the smallest farms help enhance biodiversity, secure open space, and provide natural habitats. Local food systems are also less resource intensive, so they generally require less fossil fuels and other transportation resources, chemical applications, and packaging and shipping materials. Local food shoppers often feel that a closer connection to their food leads to a closer connection to the land from which that food came—this encourages a deeper appreciation and sense of responsibility to protect our environment.
Community
By actively seeking local foods options in Montgomery County, residents have a great opportunity to engage directly with those who work hard to provide the best quality foods. This allows consumers to communicate their suggestions or concerns directly to farmers, and it allows farmers to better adapt to fluctuations in the market and in consumers’ preferences. The relationships that come from a local food network create a level of trust and transparency that is otherwise nearly impossible to achieve.
Quality
There’s no doubt about it—farm fresh foods taste better and are better for you! Small producers are able to maintain a high level of quality control, which means that shoppers have access to products of an overall higher quality when shopping locally. The nutritional content of produce begins to dwindle immediately after harvest, so choosing to purchase a variety of local farm fresh foods helps ensure the freshest and most nutritionally beneficial foods possible.
For further information, contact Anne Leavitt-Gruberger at 610-278-3727.