First you should ask yourself what you would like to see more of strip malls and chain stores or small family farms bringing you fresh healthy produce and proteins. If you are on the side of strip malls and chain stores, you will soon see your home town covered on every street with these concrete and asphalt spaces, along with the streets and parking lots that provide access to them.
However, if you are of the mind that supports local independent farmers, you can see your area dotted with farms that are not only home to your neighbors and friends but a wonderful source of fresh healthy food.
Farms also provide habitat for the wildlife that exists in our area; strip malls do not. Farmers leave buffers of tree lined fence rows around their fields to prevent the wind from eroding the topsoil and this gives the wildlife a place to live. Strip mall developers only bulldoze the entire property of trees but usually only plant a few small trees at the edge of the parking lot. (Can you ever find a shady parking place at the mall?)
If you buy from local farmers, there will be less energy used and less pollution created in the transportation and storage of your fresh healthy food. If you buy these same items (less healthy choice) from national chains you are increasing not only the factories that process the items but also increasing the number of trucks on the highways to deliver these items across the state or the country. Unfortunately we now even have produce that is coming from around the world to our stores. You can’t believe that these tomatoes from Mexico for instance were picked fresh and delivered to your store the same or next day. They most always sit in packaging or processing plant for weeks ripening.
Both the flavor and the nutritional value of fresh produce degrade exponentially after it is harvested. The only way you are going to ensure the availability of truly fresh produce (harvested yesterday, not ripened on a truck) is to keep the local independent farmers in your community from going out of business and our farmers markets thriving. Shopping your local farmers markets, you will also find produce that is too delicate to ship, heirloom varieties of produce, and learn something new too. Often the vendors farm organically, and the farmer’s market is their primary source of income. Cherish the community and it will thrive!
Click Here to view Florida’s “Crops in Season” chart.
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