Buy Local! Buy in Season!

While in Bermuda, I stumbled upon this gorgeous crop of tomatoes. I stopped to speak to the farmers and learned how Bermuda does not officially claim foods to be ‘organic,’ but how using pesticides is not even an option in their minds. When I asked if they spray the crops with chemicals, the farmer responded with “of course not, if we spray we might infect another farmers crops.” I was both shocked and amazed! Oh how I wish we could adopt this level of consideration in the US! Of course, I appreciate that Bermuda is a small country, and the food is kept to feed the locals, but this type of respect and awareness demonstrated by the Bermudian’s could bring positive change to the health of American grown foods!

Local foods, for the most part, retain more nutrients because they are allowed to ripen naturally. Foods that travel are often picked before being totally ripe and ready.
Local grown food is, for the most part, safer. To ripen, veggies and fruit are artificially ‘ripened’ using ethylene gas (no BUENO!).
Foods that are in season are proven to contain more nutrients than those out of season.
Local/small farms typically use less chemicals than the big industrialized farms. Many small farmers are not certified organic as the certification fees may be cost prohibitive, but you can be sure these crops are cleaner and more nutrient dense than the ones coming from the big guys!
Buying local, talking to the farmers creates a connection with our food. This gives us the opportunity to be aware and appreciate what we are fueling our bodies with. You are what you eat!
Fresh food tastes better when it is picked and consumed at it’s peak of freshness! What tastes better than a ripe tomato picked off the vine or biting into an apple plucked directly from the tree?