Well, here it is. The last May challenge post. But don't worry! Even thought we won't have daily challenges anymore, we are going to keep posting!
Today's challenge is:
The last challenge aka make a locally sourced meal
So what does that really mean? Locally sorced food means any produce, meat or other goods that are grown or raised within a certain distance from your home. This distance isn't regulated, but it's around 100-200 miles from your home, up to being classified as anything from your state.
What are the benefits of eating locally sorced foods?
1. Local Foods Are Fresher
Local food is fresher and tastes better than food that has been shipped, after being picked and packaged. You can defiantly tell the difforence between lettuce picked yesterday and lettuce picked last week, factory-washed, and sealed in plastic. Along with tasting better, fresher food lasts longer.
2. Supports the local economy
Money spent with local farmers stays in your area. It works to build your local economy instead of growing a big corporation in another city, state, or country. Since the food goes throught fewer steps to get to you, more of the money you spend actually goes to the people growing it.
3. Local Foods Preserve Green Space & Farmland
Buying foods grown, and prossessed closer to where you live, helps maintain green space and smaller more earth friendly farms in your area.
4. Local Foods Usually Have Less Environmental Impact
Those strawberries that where shipped here from California? The thousands of miles they are shipped eads to a big carbon footprint for some little fruit. Look for farmers who use organic and sustainable growing practices and energy use to minimize your food's environmental impact.
5. Local Foods Create Community
Knowing where your food is from, and being connected to the people who raise and grow it, instead of having a single relationship - to a big supermarket - you develop smaller connections to more food sources. All of the sudden you know vendors at the farmers market, the buying manager at the local cheese shop, the workers at the co-op that sells local eggs.
Have fun hitting up your local farmers market or CSA!
Check out these links for more information on eating local!
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/07/the-benefits-of-eating-locally-grown-food/index.htm
http://www.sustainabletable.org/254/local-regional-food-systems
~The Coyotes