Did you know?

Eating locally grown food increases nutrient intake

The term “local food system” (or “regional food system”) is used to describe a method of food production and distribution that is geographically localized, rather than national and/or international. Food is grown (or raised) and harvested close to consumers' homes, then distributed over much shorter distances than is common in the conventional global industrial food system. In general, local/regional food systems are associated with sustainable agriculture, while the global industrial food system is reliant upon industrial agriculture.

Most produce in the U.S. is picked four to seven days before being placed on supermarket shelves. That same produce is shipped for an average of 1500 miles before being sold. Those distances are substantially longer when the produce is imported from Mexico, Asia, Canada, South America and other places.

Consumers that value fresh food and a working landscape should support local farmers by buying their products. The University of Vermont provides 10 reasons why:

  1. Locally grown food tastes better, because the crops are picked at their peak. In addition, farmstead products like cheeses are handcrafted for best flavor. Livestock products are processed in nearby facilities and typically, the farmer has direct relationships with processors and can oversee quality control. There is less hands-on control over animals processed in large industrial facilities.
  2. Local food is better for you. The shorter the time between the farm and your table, the fewer nutrients will be lost from the fresh food.
  3. Local food preserves genetic diversity. In the modern agricultural system, plant varieties are chosen for their ability to ripen uniformly, withstand harvesting, survive packing and last a long time on the shelf. As a result, there is limited genetic diversity in large-scale production. Smaller local farms, in contrast, often grow many different varieties of crops to provide a long harvest season. Livestock diversity is also higher where there are many small farms rather than a few large farms.
  4. Local food is safe. Local farmers aren't anonymous and they take their responsibility to the consumer seriously. Food grown locally is often organic but sold without inflating the price, a practice common with large chain supermarkets.
  5. Local food supports local families. The wholesale prices that farmers get for their products are low, often near the cost of production. Local farmers who sell direct to consumers cut out the middleman and get full retail price for their food, which helps farm families stay on the land.
  1. Local food builds community. When you buy directly from a farmer, you're engaging in a time-honored connection between eater and grower. Knowing farmers gives you insight into the seasons, the land and your food. In many cases, it gives you access to a place where your children and grandchildren can go to learn about nature and agriculture.
  2. Local food preserves open space. When farmers get paid more for their products by marketing locally, they're less likely to sell farmland for development. When you buy locally grown food, you're doing something proactive to preserve our working landscape. That landscape is an essential ingredient to other economic activity in the state, such as tourism and recreation.
  3. Local food keeps taxes down. According to several studies by the American Farmland Trust, farms contribute more in taxes than they require in services, whereas most development contributes less in taxes than the cost of required services.
  4. Local food benefits the environment and wildlife. Well-managed farms provide ecosystem services: they conserve fertile soil, protect water sources and sequester carbon from the atmosphere. The farm environment is a patchwork of fields, meadows, woods, ponds and buildings that provide habitat for wildlife in our communities.
  5. Local food is an investment in the future. By supporting local farmers today, you are helping to ensure that there will be farms in your community tomorrow. That is a matter of importance for food security, especially in light of an uncertain energy future and our current reliance on fossil fuels to produce, package, distribute and store food.

We can start now by buying locally grown food whenever possible. By doing so we'll be helping to preserve the environment. We will also be strengthening our communities by investing our food dollars close to home. Only 18 cents of every dollar, when buying at a large supermarket, go to the grower. 82 cents go to various unnecessary middlemen. We can cut them out of the picture and buy our food directly from our local farmers.

By the same token, why buy dietary supplements from retailers when you can cut out the middle vendor and deal directly with the owner of the brand? When you buy LPGN products, you are buying from the very people who researched, developed, formulated and oversaw the quality assurance process. The LPGN commitment to excellence and quality is so deep that the owners personally test the products on their own family members before making them available to you! You are guaranteed quality and efficacy you can trust!