Fruits and vegetables: local or bust!

Central Pennsylvania is a hub of fresh fruits and vegetables in the warmer months from spring to fall. Eating locally sourced produce is one of the best things you can do for your health and the health of your family! Whether it is making a weekly trip to the farmers market or planting your own garden, local fruits and vegetables are the way to go! But what makes them so great?

• More nutrient rich: A typical carrot travels roughly 1,800 miles to get to your plate. After fruits and especially vegetables are harvested they start losing nutrients almost immediately. Picked directly from your garden is the best for nutrient richness and local is not far behind!
• Tastes so much better: Compare the taste of a fresh summer tomato versus a winter tomato from the market. Local fruits and vegetables taste better because they remain on the vine for the right amount of time and aren’t picked too soon. This allows their flavor to develop. 
• Lower pesticide load: Ask your local farmers how they practice pest management. Many local farms adopt integrated pest management or IPM, using more natural methods like birds and predatory insects to control pests, thus needing less pesticides on their crops.
• Boost local economy (and yours): By spending just $10 per week on locally produced fruits and vegetables, Pennsylvanians can boost the local economy by about $48 million each week. That is nearly $2.5 billion each year! (source: Buy Local PA) Not only do you give your money to the local farmer, but you also spend less! Fruits and vegetables sourced locally are more cost effective than those that travel a long distance to get to your plate.
• Better for the environment: To get food from your garden to your kitchen requires a few feet (your two feet to be exact). To get produce from California to central Pennsylvania requires large scale farm equipment, packaging, and then shipping them in a truck which drives 3,000 miles. If that is not an impact on the environment I don’t know what is!

I plant my own garden and then supplement with local farmers markets. I have my favorite farms that I frequent and they haven’t let me down in the taste and cost department. I enjoy going to see what they’ve harvested that week and if I have questions they are more than happy to answer. Also, if you are unsure of what the fruit or vegetable is or tastes like, I’ve seen my local farmers market allow individuals to try the product and provide the consumer with a recipe. That is real customer service!

Check out your local farmers market and become a regular. Plant a garden or even a few vegetable plants in pots if you do not have a yard. You won’t regret it!

For more information check out:
buylocalpa.org
papreferred.com
localharvest.org/

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