In communities, citizens demand fresh and seasonal crops- rather than shipped food from non-local businesses. Through these local transactions, the well-being of the farmers, the customers, and their environment will be positively influenced. The locavore movement supports a healthier generation while promoting a strong and sustainable environment and economy in the local community.
In a localized economy, producers will efficiently allocate their resources to the consumer demand of their farming market. With local markets, the community’s economy will boost and in effect, create jobs and create affordable prices to consumers. In Jennifer Maiser’s Weblog, she reports a study by the New Economics Foundation in London, “a dollar spent locally generates twice as much income for the local economy” (Maiser). Therefore, local purchases are more beneficial than non-locally owned business purchases because the money is circulated into their economy. By cycling money in a local economy, “it would allow farmers to make a decent living while giving consumers access to healthy, fresh food at affordable prices” (Roberts). The externalities of having a local economy will provide income to local producers -as well as encourage employment- and meet consumer demand: taste and preferences. Ultimately, the localvore movement will sustain a healthy relationship between producers and consumers in a local community; money will be generated through transactions that secure the farmer’s revenue and their ability to provide food that their customers demand.
Individuals that hold fresh and nutritious foods of high value will inherently and naturally be in favor of the locavore movement. With produce from nearby farms, opportunities for people to physically handle and manage the food are minimal; this immediately adds to the draw of a “farm-to-table” journey for the produce. There are no gimmicks or hidden tricks to exaggerate the taste of a product, as the food gets picked from the farm, sits on a shelf or table at a market and ends on a plate as part of a healthy and fresh meal in a seamless and natural progression. Jennifer Maiser writes that “produce that you purchase at your local farmer’s market has often been picked within 24 hours of your purchase. This freshness not only affects the taste of your food, but the nutritional value which declines with time” (Source A). Individuals concerned with the nutritious value and overall quality of their food will support this locavore movement for its focus on health in foods and the peace of mind in knowing their food was grown naturally and organically on farms, not manufactured in factories. Alisa Smith and JB MacKinnon write that “food begins to lose nutrition as soon as it is harvested. Fruit and vegetables that travel shorter distances are therefore likely to be closer to a maximum of nutrition” (Source B). If one eats produce bought at a farmer’s market, which is likely right off the vine as Jennifer Maiser stated above, the individual is consuming nearly maximum nutrition that that food has to offer. With a growing number of people looking harder at the nutritional value of what they put into their bodies and consciously caring more about the quality of their food, the locavore movement is gaining momentum for the its emphasis on fresh, natural and locally-grown produce that is picked and subsequently eaten within a small amount of time.
The locavore movement benefits the environment through the ultimate limitation of greenhouse gases and other forms of pollution being released into the air. The “farm-to-table” process highlights that eating local is better for air quality and pollution rather than eating organic food. Web Blogger Jennifer Maiser states “In a March 2005 study by the journal Food Policy, it was found that the miles that organic food often travels to our plate creates environmental damage that outweighs the benefit of buying organic” (Source A). The benefit of eating food that is grown and produced locally is that there is a very minimal time buffer between when the food is harvested to when it is served on a plate. Organic food travels many more miles, in which the trucks that carry these foods expose harmful emission into the air. In a chart that explained the total greenhouse gas emissions by supply chain tier associated with household food consumed in the US, Source D concluded that locally grown chicken, fish, and eggs have more a positive impact on the climate than dairy products and red meat. A more health-conscious generation will support the locavore movement without hesitation due to the less harmful effects on the environment as opposed to organic foods.
In conclusion, the locavore movement will secure a sustainable economy and environment in local communities that aims to create a healthier generation. The benefits of the movement overpower alternative sources of food, whereas foods like organically grown fruits and vegetables or produce imported from faraway lands detract from strides in limiting humans’ impact on the environment and diminish the health and nutritious value that lies in freshly picked produce. To oppose the locavore movement would be to promote excess handling of food before arriving at the market, support the emissions of greenhouse gases that strangle and throttle the planet Earth and the biodiverse species that call it home and divert necessary funds away from local farmers, the true backbone of the American economy.
