Supporting the Local Economy

We’ve talked a lot about organic food, and local food has been a part of that but local doesn’t necessarily mean organic. Do you think of these as the same, and do you think there is a danger in the association?

I don’t think it is just about ‘organic’… being eco-friendly also means reducing your carbon footprint among other things… buying locally grown food and supporting local growers, whether they are organic or not is just as important.

I agree stavy….a lot of fuel, energy is wasted when food is transported from other areas…even other countries….so buying local reduces the carbon footprint immensely….Orry main but I also do understand your point…many people consider organic and local as one and the same thing…which is not so….local may not necessarily be organic…it depends on the way the produce is grown….

Yeah, I’m just hearing a lot of the two concepts being bandied about as if it were one, and I agree that they are separate.

and locally gorwn produce, even if not officially certified ‘organic’ can be just as naturally grown, and grown with care, and with the minimum impact on the environment.

Here is one more thing though. Being local doesn’t mean it’s done right either. There still need to be safeguards.

Agreed on that point Orry Main. This is why it is important to get to know the farmer that is growing the food one is buying.
I feel that it defeats the purpose in buying organic that has traveled half way around the world.

Maybe one day I’ll get the chance to really check out a farmer’s market. The world is headed that way, I think.

We have a seasonal farmers market here. Just ended at the end of August here.It gets too cold in the winter to have it year round. I already miss it.

I assume you probably pay cash at these markets? Is there a rule of thumb on that? I ask because I just don’t carry cash.

I don’t care a jot about the organic label, in fact I actively avoid it because it is a big con. I buy locally grown/raised food from sources that I trust. I am much more interested in welfare friendly and local than organic.

I agree with you about that deltic1. For me welfare friendly and local are most important. Orry Main, you can pay by card at most farm shops and a few people at farmers markets can process cards (at least that is the case at the one near us).

Orry, in my experience, you have to pay cash at farmer’s markets. But the last time I went was nearly 15 years ago now…

I don’t know about organic being a big con deltic. But I don’t buy organic just because it says its organic either. I’ve looked at some of the organic stuff & it is way too expensive for me to buy right now plus some of what I saw looked a little iffy in the meat dept.

I prefer to buy at a farmer’s market if I can’t grow my own. But its not always feasible for me to go to a farmer’s market so I try to buy the local produce here, sometimes its not available but I do what I can.

We belong to a local food co op, also known as CSAs. (community supported agriculture). The food we get is grown local by small farmers. We get our meat and dairy the same way. Such co ops are growing and becoming more common.

I think I know what deltic1 means. Organic means different things in different places. Organic doesn’t necessarily mean welfare friendly, it certainly doesn’t mean local, it can have travelled the world and have a really high carbon footprint. Depending on what it is and where it comes from it could be much further from what most people think organic means, than local non organic produce.