Thursday, February 17, 2011

The Local Food Movement is Here!

The local food movement is a "collaborative effort to build more locally based, self-reliant food economies - one in which sustainable food production, processing, distribution, and consumption is integrated to enhance the economic, environmental and social health of a particular place and is considered to be a part of the broader farm sustainability movement. It is part of the concept of local purchasing and local economies, a preference to buy locally produced goods and services. Those who prefer to eat locally grown/produced food sometimes call themselves locavores or localvores.

Unfortunately, there is a growing trend among U.S. Consumers spending less of their income on food than ever before. Furthermore, farmers are continuing to get less and less of the consumer food dollar and are going out of business at alarming rates. So what can local consumers do???
  • Buying food directly from local farmers reduces the portion of your food dollar going to corporate agribusiness and ensures that farmers get their fair share of your food dollar.
  • Local farmers will reinvest more of your food dollar in your region. Buying local food increases the circulation of your food dollars locally, in effect "creating" money and economic prosperity in your region.
  • Buying local products ensures that farm workers and producers elsewhere get a decent wage and enjoy safe living and working conditions.

Fortunately, for the Central Piedmont region of North Carolina, the local food movement is alive and well! Farmers, restaurants, businesses and institutions in our area are increasingly responding to consumer demand for local foods and making every effort to provide local foods. Below are just a few links to examples of what's happening on the local food movement front in our region:

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