I have divided them into two categories- selfish and altruistic. Each of these is sort of a question as to whether it is worth it to you or not- these figure in for people choosing to buy local or not.
The 3 selfish factors:
1) Health of family/self: locally grown food is better for you- no preservatives- nothing frozen or canned to take away raw nutrients. It has more vitamins, was probably left on the vine until ripe and is not subjected to the industrial food system- the system that combats problems like high susceptibility to infections in crowded feed lots by pumping meat full of antibiotics instead of just lessening the crowding. You also eliminate unregulated foreign and domestic but dirty processing plants. E-coli infections have heightened our awareness to where our food is coming from, and its not all pretty. Local stuff is just healthier- but is it so much more healthier to make it worth the downsides? Some granola friends would tell me there is no argument here, but I've known plenty of people who lived long healthy lives on bad diets.
2)Budget: this is a complicated one. In some regards, you need to have a decent income to eat locally. Fresh produce and meat aren't usually sale priced, and as I've said before, the produce stands don't take WIC vouchers. But, I think you are more likely to get things in bulk and if you have any inclination towards canning or freezing, you can eat off of those for awhile and actually lower your bill. By in large, though, if you are really committed to eating locally, I think you have to have the spending power and reserves to do it. I don't think I'm spending that much more for groceries, but I am spending some more. It may only amount to a 5% grocery bill increase, but you have to be able to say that is an acceptable increase in food costs for your budgeting purposes.
3)Time: this is another one of those plus minus categories. I have to take more time to go to the local produce stand rather than get my produce in the designated department of the supermarket. I drive 5 miles north to buy the local (almost) organic milk. I drive 5 miles south to the grocery store for cereal, toilet paper, etc etc. There's another place I like to buy most of my vegetables, and if I have my way, I'll find some place that sells meat in a 25 mile radius. But, I'll probably have to drive there as well. So, in addition to a bit more gas, I also have to consider if I have time to do several stops instead of one-stop-shopping. It can also take longer to cook fresh produce. New potatoes and corn on the cob take about 20 minutes to boil, versus the 5 minutes they take to cook in the microwave. Another place where you have to determine that it is worth it to you.
Now, on the Altruistic side of the coin:
1)Environment: When food is locally grown and sold, it means it isn't picked thousands of miles away, in bulk-industrial settings, using over-fertilized fields and then trucked or train transported those thousands of miles to us. Do I really need shrimp farmed in Ecuador when I can get them from the coast of the state I live in? How about tomatoes? Should I get them from the grocery, who has brought them in from Mexico when I can buy some grown in my own county? Buy local and you decrease your carbon footprint, your part in global warming and the amount of freon consumed.
2)Economy: for years we've been hearing about the death of farming in the U.S. I always thought it was odd, because I grew up visiting my great-grandfather's house, where we took water from the well to water the garden he planted until he was 90, or to wash the sandy soil off the watermelons, peaches, pears, grapes or multitudes of other things he grew. We feed the scraps to his chickens. (He never ate white meat though- only beef or pork, but he did eat eggs). It was the way so many in rural places lived. I had no idea of how fast that died (my family has always gardened, but never more had chickens or a large farm). Buying local keeps the money local. Taxes are paid, farms are kept, organic growers are able to continue, land is not bought by developers and turned into sub-prime mortgage subdivisions. Farming provides jobs in the summer for unemployed students. You help your neighbors in a very real sense. It also flies in the face of the artificially inflated or deflated prices you are likely to see at the grocery. Tomatoes are .49 a pound in July, but 1.49 in early May (if you're lucky enough to find them). This is as opposed to the 1.29 a pound they are year round in groceries. It's hard to say what impact supporting local farmers has on the larger system, but it certainly isn't bad for the economy.
3)Simple other-centeredness and changing the world: By buying local, you make a choice to go against the prevailing consumeristic tendencies and go back to the old way of living off of what is presented you- or forward towards a way in which we honor the world and take better care of it. You choose not to have strawberries in February or salmon in Florida. If everyone could choose to buy local, what a difference it would make in the system- maybe change it altogether! In some regards, this is a very modernistic idea of being "the right thing to do" and I have just enough should-ism in me to let it factor into my decision.
So there you have it- 3 selfish reasons, 3 altruistic (or big-picture if you like). These are some of the complicated datum swirling around in my head as I try to make a small difference- try to work towards better goals and being a true localterian. I challenge you to do likewise!
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