Monday, July 19, 2010

Why Buy Local?


The New Market Farmers Market aims to be a resource for healthy eating and to promote our local community of artisans, food vendors and farmers. "Buying local" may be a popular catch phrase, but its meaning is far from a fad or trend soon to be replaced by something else. Supporting our local farmers and merchants supports our local economy. It assures that our dollars stay in our community, where they benefit us and those we share our homes and neighborhoods with.

On the environmental front, buying local means reducing the energy used to transport grapes from Chile
and potatoes from Idaho. Our carbon footprint is reduced and stays where we can see it, and the planet we share with billions is a little better off.

Did you know?
"Most produce in the US is picked 4 to 7 days before being placed on supermarket shelves, and is shopped for an average of 1500 miles before being sold." (And this is only counting the US!) -Local Harvest

"If every US citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country's oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil per week. That's not gallons - but barrels."* Imagine that.

So join us and spend some time every Saturday shopping at the New Market Farmers Market. Your family benefits, your town benefits, our planet benefits. Invest in your community.

* Quote from * from “Animal, Vegetable Miracle” by Barbara Kingsolver.

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