Key Reasons Consumers Prefer Shopping Local

It is one thing for educators to give students new terms, such as “locavore,” and another to help them understand the reasons this consumer segment exists. So when opening their own restaurant, or giving bright ideas to their next employer, here are some key reasons they can use from http://www.about.com/ to justify purchasing supplies from local suppliers.
1. Local foods are seasonal and eaten when available, as opposed to those foods that have been chemically treated, or put in cold storage for months to artificially extend shelf life. A tomato fresh from the garden and still warm from the summer sun is worth the wait.
2. Local food is fresher and tastes better than food that been trucked or flown in from thousands of miles away.
3. More often than not local foods have less impact on the environment when not shipped from miles away, held in cold storage, processed at some factory, etc.
4. Local foods help stem the tide of urban sprawl and protect and preserve farmland, green space, etc.
5. Local foods may be safer to eat (providing the farmer is not spraying his/her crops with tons of pesticides) because you know where your food comes from and who grows it, so that if there is a problem it can be identified and remedied quickly by those who purchased it.
6. Local food supports the local economy as long as the local farmer sells his/her produce in the local market and purchases supplies from purveyors that are also locally-owned; as opposed to purchasing from the nearby mega-mart that has a global distribution system in place to find foods that can be bought at the lowest price possible, without any guarantees that the foods have been grown in a safe and sustainable manner.
7. The more demand placed on local farmers to provide a greater variety of fruits, vegetables, and proteins, the greater will be the supply.
8. Local food, plain and simple, connects consumers to the people who provide the food and enhances a greater sense of community awareness, connectedness, and pride.

Teaching tip: Have students plan and prepare a meal made exclusively from the local farmer's market – in all four seasons – if lucky enough to have one nearby. Have them also compare and contrast what's available based on the geography of the United States (e.g., Maine versus California) and the challenges that would pose to those who want to satisfy the locavore.