My choice is local-organic. While I have nothing against low prices and convenient shopping, the blind pursuit of these two values can wreak a lot of damage -- damage that we ultimately pay for in water pollution, toxic pesticide exposure, unhealthy livestock, depleted soils, the quality of food, and the loss of small farms. The total bill may not show up at the cash register, but it's one we pay nonetheless. If you consider the external costs – it’s ultimately much more expensive than the few extra dollars you pay upfront for organically grown food. The point is to make a conscious choice, because as we insert our values into the market, businesses respond and things change. There's power in what we do collectively.
Why Choose Local?
- The fewer steps there are between your food's source and your table the less chance there is of contamination.
- Also, money spent with local farmers, growers, and artisans and locally-owned purveyors all stays close to home, working to build your local economy instead of being handed over to a corporation in another city, state, or country.
- Since the food moves through fewer hands, more of the money you spend tends to get to the people growing it.
- The environmental question of where you food comes from is bigger than its "carbon footprint."
- By buying foods grown and raised closer to where you live, you help maintain farmland and green space in your area.
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Why Choose Organic?
- Conventional agriculture relies heavily on chemical inputs.
- The EPA now considers 60% of all herbicides, 90% of all fungicides, and 30% of all insecticides carcinogenic.
- Organic Produce is chemical free and 100% natural.
- Organic produce is more flavorful because it is harvested at its peak - most commercial fruit is picked green.
- It is beneficial to soil, water and local habitat.
- Organic has proven to use less energy
- Whether it is local fruit, imported coffee or artisan cheese, organic can demonstrate a reverence for the land and its people.
- By investing in a CSA program, members provide direct financial assistance to organic farms, and protect the rural environment located in their own community
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