What are advantages and disadvantages to buying locally grown foods?

Answer 1

Advantages:

• Fresher produce
• Quicker restock to distributors
• Boosts local economy
• Lower cost (less shipping and handling, lower warehousing requirements, no tariffs)

Disadvantage:

• Smaller selection
• Fewer choices
• Limited supply
• Greater expense due to shipping and distribution costs

Answer 2

Reason #1: Environmental Stewardship

Most food in supermarkets travels extravagant distances. With the cost of food production radically lower in some parts of the world, it has become economically beneficial to import many foods. Almost 80% of all fish and shellfish are now imported into the U.S. and nearly a third of all fruits and nuts. In total, the U.S. imports 15% of all its foods.

The environmental costs of transporting food all over the world are substantial. Carbon emissions, depletion of finite fossil fuels and pollution of the oceans are some of the biggest concerns arising from the food shipping industry.

Buying local food greatly reduces these issues. Regional food systems can lower carbon emissions by up to 17 times, not to mention decreasing the amount of fossil fuels needed to refrigerate and ship food.

Reason #2: Freshness and Taste

Another great (and far more tangible) reason to buy local is that locally produced foods are fresher, last longer and taste better. Local produce can last twice as long as that found in supermarkets before wilting or going bad, keeping its flavor and texture better while giving consumers more flexibility in food purchasing and preparation.

The taste tends to be better as well, as many small farms tend to avoid genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as well as synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, all of which can impact the flavor of produce.

Small ranches and cattle raising operations also tend to feed their livestock grass and allow them free-range, giving them a remarkably improved flavor profile and vastly reducing the amount of fat in the meat. Nutritional benefits like these are additional reasons to consider buying local.

Reason #3: Keeping Money in the Community

Currently, only 7% of money used to purchase food stays in the community, with the other 93% going to pay the massive global food infrastructure and huge multinational corporations that operate it. Compare that to 100 years ago, pre-globalization, when 40% of food dollars stayed in the local economy-helping communities thrive and creating local jobs that have since been outsourced.

Disadvantage of Buying Local Food: More Expensive

The main reason that people choose not to buy local food is because it is more expensive than most of the food that comes into the grocery store. This is because your local farmers are smaller, usually family-run, and they do not have the streamlined production that the big grocery store suppliers have. You will have to pay more for their products, but you do get the satisfaction of knowing that you are supporting local business.

Disadvantage of Buying Local Food: Less Convenient

In addition, another disadvantage of buying local food is that it tends to be less convenient. You may have to go to the farmers' market for your produce and meat, and then go to the regular neighborhood grocery store for your grains, cereals, and other products that are not available in local varieties.

Even worse, if your local farmer does not come to the farmers' market, but rather makes you come to them, you will have to go out of your way to go to their farm to purchase the food.

Disadvantage of Buying Local Food: Less Variety

Local food will obviously only consist of the things that can be grown locally. This means that in the middle of winter, you will not be able to get strawberries, nor will you have pumpkins to make a goodpumpkin pie for Easter. You are limited to the produce that can be grown during the season, and in the winter, you will be forced to buy much more at the supermarket if you live in a cold area that cannot grow anything during the winter.

Disadvantage of Buying Local Food: Not Regulated

If you are buying from a stand at the farmers market that claims to have organic fruit, there is really no way of knowing if this is true. This is because local farmers at small farms are often not certified or regulated. Chances are that they are telling the truth and their food is better than stuff that is shipped in, but you can never know for sure.

Answer 3

If you are in a country of the 3rd world it is not secure at all to eat local food, because you don't know how this food would reflect on you health. So, this is a disadvantage. The advantages are the new taste you feel when you eat local food there and the new culinary experiences.

Answer 4

Locally grown foods have several benefits:

The money is going to farmers in you local area, helping keep the money in your community and state instead of sending it elsewhere.

It takes less fuel to transport good grown locally then bringing them in from far away states or countries.

Produce is going to be fresher and require fewer preservatives. There is a better chance that they have been ripened on the plant rather than picker early and ripened in bulk using various artificial means.

Answer 5

if you buy local food, that means there is not so much pollution from having to fly over long distance foods. When you buy local, you save money 4 local economy

Answer 6

The only disadvantage I can think of is that your choices will be reduced. Other than that, I can't think of a down side.

Answer 7

There are no disadvantages. By buying local you are supporting local farmers which could lead to development and help create jobs.

Answer 8

i really dont know