Eat Local

Take a moment to imagine that you are a small beet farmer living in Paris, Kentucky. The harvest is today, and you are preparing to reap the vegetables of your labor. You wake up like it is any other day; you put on your overalls and do whatever farmers do any other day and say, ‘today is gonna be awesome.’ Later, with the harvest having been harvested, you take a portion to the local farmers’ market. But today something is different. Something isn’t right. The usual crowd isn’t present and very few customers are there at all. As it turns out, while reading a copy of the Herald-Leader you learn that a new Super-mega-awesome Superstore just opened with a produce section; they sell large-scale food products at Wal-Mart worthy pricing. Many of the city’s citizens that used to purchase fresh-straight off the plant beets from you are now shopping for beets that were grown in a field that most closely resembles a science lab due to the competitive pricing. Fast forward a bit and you find yourself not knowing how to pay farm loans and facing the possibility of financial ruin.

Dramatics aside, this is but just an example of the reality that faces many small scale farmers in America today. The globalization of today’s postindustrial food market has pushed our local farmers into the shadows of the industry that they used to run. Most, if not all, of you listening probably get your food from Kroger or another grocery store that has food as far from local as Jupiter, and that is fine and good, however everyone can make an effort to show some love to the local farmers that do so much to circulate our economy. This is not only important, but also very easy to show your support.

Small farmers are one of the best sources of local economic stimulus; they ensure that the money people spend on food will stay in the community. According to SustainableTable.org, communities see vastly more economic benefits from the presence of small farms than they do from large ones. This is because small farmers generally re-invest more money into local economies by purchasing feed for livestock, seed, and other materials from local businesses, whereas large farms often order in bulk from distant companies. Local restaurants, in turn, often will buy from farmers, who then feed local consumers; the cycle continues. Large factory livestock farms also degrade local property values because of the awful odors they emit and varying other environmental problems that they cause.

While farmers help everyone out in that area, we often find ourselves complaining about the high prices tagged to local food. While prices are high, they don’t even make up for the rising average cost of living wages for farmers. Between this and extra necessary costs such as Health Insurance, many of today’s farmers find trouble making ends meet and often have to take up a second job, which is near impossible for most. The cost of buying local food semi-regularly is more than worth it when you take into account the superior products and service you are getting.

In the documentary, The Future of Food, it is shown that large corporations such as Monsanto are driving family farms off their land and into poverty at alarming rates all over the world. This is often devastating for the communities involved as they see a rise in poverty and food insecurity. Why should this be allowed to happen in our community?

When you go to the farmers’ market here in Lexington, the food is as fresh as you can get it without growing it yourself; The farmers usually pick their fruits and vegetables the morning that they sell them. Not only do you get healthy and often sustainable delicious food, but you also get to know where exactly the food comes from and a peace of mind that the food is safe. Let it be known that the average nonlocal carrot travels about 1,838 miles to get to the consumer’s dinner table. I don’t know about you, but to me, good god, that is disgusting. You don’t get the big food scares of mad cows disease or salmonella either from local farmers either because of the absence of multiple chances of cross contamination from distribution centers.

Keep in mind that there is more to this than just helping farmers. Eating local in Lexington can even help those in the lower class afford this healthy food. My sister started a weekly service at First Presbyterian Church, and now Centenary Church called Fresh Stop that works to do just that. Several local farmers are involved that provide a smorgasbord of fruits and vegetables to be delivered to the church. People who can afford to buy groceries on a regular basis will buy a week’s share of the food for a price of thirty dollars which is an elevated price, while citizens who cannot afford to buy anything but fast food usually, can buy the same sized share for ten dollars. Food stamps are also accepted. To top the service off, there is a complimentary weekly newsletter with recipes attached for the provided produce.

Eating local also adds a green element to your diet. Purchasing food from down the road uses quite a bit less fossil fuel than food bought from global markets. There is no middle man or distribution/retail center in the mix. Also, locally grown produce and livestock also are much less likely to have been produced by use of petroleum based fertilizers and pesticides. Not only is this much healthier, but it is also more environmentally friendly. Whether or not you are willing to believe that this is important, it is.

The main reasons that people give locally grown food the cold shoulder are that it is too expensive and not as convenient to get. Both of these are valid viewpoints; not everyone can be a local only consumer all the time. I would be lying if I told you that I was. It is, however, something that everyone should invest to the degree that they are able. As for convenience, Lexington has many opportunities for anyone to stick their foot in the local food pool. One can take a walk downtown to the Farmers Market; buy a share at Fresh Stop or another CSA; or go to shop at the Good Foods Co-op once in a blue moon. These are just a few to mention.

So I challenge everyone here to, at some point in the future, take the time to go to Lexington’s Farmers’ Market and check out what they have to offer; part of the fun in this practice is that you never know what you will find. It just takes small things to make a big difference, like perhaps buying Lexington Pasta (which is the best freaking pasta ever) instead of processed Bertolli. Help out the farmers of our communities, strengthen the local economy, and become a little greener in the process. Sounds hard but it really isn’t. Let’s turn that sad farmer into a happy farmer and the whole community will get a little happier too.