A Pleasure to Experience – Local Food

Local Food is food which is produced within a relatively small area, frequently characterized by strong community structures and support system, different from the big-scale retail chain system and generally co-exist with its consumers in an organic and sustainable manner. In local food system, farmers grow, harvest and prepare the food within the area it is consumed. They are paid for this service based on the volume of production they provide and the quality of the local food they produce. It could be organic food or any other kind of food produced locally. Farmers markets, farmers’ cooperatives, and marts which sell exclusively local food can be an important source of information on local food system.

The most popular form of local food is the grocery store shopper’s choice. Many people think of only Safeway and grocery stores as local food choices. This is only partly true. Supermarkets are a great place to get most local food selections but are also surrounded by large-scale grocers selling mostly processed foods. These chains such as Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Market Pantry chain are major locavore retailers.

Locavores not only offer healthy eating options, they also provide a sense of pride and community connectedness. People who have grown and produced within 100 miles of their home are more likely to share the joy of eating locally grown and produced foods with others who have also discovered the pleasures of eating naturally and pesticide free. A trip to the local farm market or to the local farmer’s market provides the opportunity for you and your family to experience the wonder and pleasure of eating naturally grown foods.