Speech Rachel Hart

“What an extraordinary achievement for a civilization: to have developed the one diet that reliably makes its people sick!” In Food Rules: an Eater's Manual, Michael Pollan discusses the dangers of many American’s diets. If every day we consciously choose to put food into our bodies for nourishment, then why do we choose to consume foods that are not good for us? For generations my family has owned farms, planted crops, raised cattle and reaped the harvest. I know exactly how much work goes into raising your own food and the benefits you receive when consuming it. But this isn’t just about me or those of you sitting right here in this room; it’s about all of us. We are all members of the same food system. Our food system involves every aspect of food and everything that happens to that food. This very system reaches into our communities, our state, the United States, and the whole world. In order to make changes to this system you and I are the major factors. We must make an effort, or change will never happen.  One of these changes is to become a locavore-someone who chooses to eat locally grown food whenever possible. I know you may be thinking that this would radically change your life but take a moment to realize the many benefits of eating local. 

Why do you choose to eat something? Often one would answer because it tastes good. Because local food is raised within 100 miles, the food has less time to travel, meaning that it can be picked after it has ripened on the vine.  If you go to a chain supermarket, you purchase produce that was picked before it ripened so that it would not rot during transportation. Food that ripens on the vine has better taste. Take the tomato for example. How many of you have ever picked a juicy, red tomato right off the vine and eaten it? If you haven’t, the taste is nothing like a tomato from Wal-Mart. According to the University of Illinois Extension service, “The amount of sunlight the tomato plant receives during the growth and ripening of the fruit is a critical factor in how a tomato both looks and tastes. Once a ripened tomato is picked, its flavor deteriorates quickly. Just two hours off the vine, a tomato has lost some of the factors that make it taste so good.” When shipped tomatoes arrive at their destinations and are ready to be purchased they have lost many of the factors that make them taste good. Locally grown food is often picked the same day as it is purchased meaning that it not only tastes better but is also fresher. Local foods are not handled as much as supermarket produce and do not contain as many chemicals for freshness.

While most would agree that local food means fresher and better foods, many state that money is a major factor in the decision.  If your household of four had only one hundred dollars to spend on food for the week, would you go to the farmers market or McDonald’s? Many parents choose the latter. But why pay to buy junk food for your children? Eating chemically processed diets lead to more diseases, more doctor visits, and ultimately more money spent. Families who receive EBT or Food Stamp benefits are able to purchase the same foods from the local farmer’s market rather than the supermarket, meaning even families in financial hardships are able to purchase locally.

Your simple choice to eat local also benefits the local economy. Purchases at the farmer’s markets go directly to the farmer so that he can raise more crops and sustain his family. According to a study by the New Economics Foundation in London, every ten pounds spent toward local food is worth twenty five for the local area, whereas spending in a supermarket is only worth fourteen pounds. Every pound spent toward local foods generates double for the community. While helping to meet your own food needs, you help the needs of those around you when purchasing local. You give reason for these farms to remain in business and secure the open space and farmland for future generations.

Everyone eats, if they didn’t they wouldn’t alive. While food is a necessary factor in our lives, we are the ones who must make the decision as to what kind of food we eat. Do we eat something simply because it is easy to attain, tastes good and looks good on the fancy wrapper? Or do we choose to eat food that is good for us, tastes delicious and helps our communities? I cannot simply make the decision for you. Once equipped with simple facts, it’s hard to be against eating local. Do you want to see your children suffer from diseases caused by harmful pesticides and chemicals put on foods? Or do you want to see all local farms fall to neighborhoods and shopping malls?  Because no farms equals no food. The decision is yours.