Why eat local?

The main bonus to buying your food locally is that it supports your community.  But it goes beyond just being a good neighbor.  By making the conscious effort to buy local, you are also helping the environment.  The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture reports that the average fresh-food item on our dinner table travels about 1,500 miles to get there.  Buying locally-produced food eliminates the need for all that gas-guzzling transportation, which saves on costs and helps decrease your carbon footprint.

And because the food travels a shorter distance, it has more time to be cultivated and can be picked at its peak—giving you the freshest food possible.  Because when you are buying food “in season,” it is often a fraction of the cost of what you would pay at grocery stores.  So not only are you eating healthier, but you are also saving more money on your monthly food bill. Small farms also tend to be less aggressive than large factory farms about dousing their wares with chemicals and are more likely to grow more variety too.

Finally, eating locally gives a huge economic boost to the farmers in your area.  On average, farmers receive only 20 cents of each food dollar spent, with the rest going for transportation, processing, packaging, refrigeration, and marketing.  Farmers who sell food to local customers receive the full retail value—a dollar for each food dollar spent.  Additionally, eating locally encourages the use of local farmland for farming, which keeps development in check, while preserving open space.

Royal Oak Farmers Market

Open Saturdays (all year) from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

The Royal Oak Farmer’s Market features many organic and natural (grass fed, Amish, humanely raised, antibiotic and hormone free) farms. Come on out and get to know your local farmers.

Group Shopping Tour, one Saturday per month starting in the spring

$10/person

Sign up now!

Detroit Eastern Market

Open Saturdays (all year) from 5:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Detroit Eastern Market is the largest historic public market district in the United States.  More than 150 vendors flood the market each week.  Nationally acclaimed specialty food producer, Zingerman’s of Ann Arbor, has recently started selling their breads and cheeses at the market.

Group Shopping Tour,  dates to be determined