A normal summer day downtown at the Farmer’s market in Indianapolis, Indiana would let people see inside the thriving world of merchants and farmers. One would see them five times a week selling their commodities to buyers on a long concrete street. These are their lifestyles, the way they earn income and establish a living; I’ve been there myself a few times and enjoy the intricate details of how each and every one of them grows their money-maker. With that being said, the locavore movement has and is one of the healthiest ways to obtain sustenance; regarding their nutrition and nourishment of their food, the economics of the whole business, and how sustainable it all is, one can see how impactful, healthier, and this profession is. The idea of eating locally grown food to support the environment is great and supports your body and their business.
Pesticide ridden groceries store vegetables and undesiring fast food products pale in comparison to the nutritions and value that agricultural products locally grown offer. Not only is it healthier and sometimes tastier, it is superior in the value it adds to our bodies. Most of the food from the farmers markets has less time off the vegetation’s vine, equaling more nutrients to the anatomy (Source B). This is also backed by the fact that the food does not need to be transported by road or sea, since the local market would have harvested them 24 or less hours ago (Source A). Avoiding these “roadblocks” that stall our time for fresher, healthier subsistence that was harvest less than 24 hours ago would be helpful to all involved: the truck and ship companies for not having spend so much on gasoline, the farmers and merchants for boosting their businesses, and to our bodies since the food is healthier and beneficial.
Locovores support their local community market-sellers economy with their presence, money, and by what you purchase. These small markets process their living off everyday people choosing their superior and sometimes cost-effective goods over the quick-and-easy trip to our local grocer. And yes, there are some out there that argue buying from local merchants threatens small farmers in other parts of the world (Source C), but there is a solution to that. If farmers in Kenya became more local and had locavores supporting their economy they would thrive as well. Even in America, big and small farmlands suffer from time to time, since their products mostly go to companies like Korger and Meijers. More financial help from the government (Source E) would solve a lot of those problems as well.
Lastly, in sustaining the local farmer system, locavores are doing a great job. This sustainability can last because it is not the only means of food, since most go to grocery stores anyways. An old market in West Lafayette, Indiana, used to give out vegetation goods to the community for free; meaning that the transportation method was by foot, thus benefiting the community and saving the environment at the same time. Some farmers have to travel places to sell their produce anyways though, but an at-most-100-mile drive is better for the environment than a cross country trip to Wal-Mart. The emissions from longer transportation seem to not be a huge factor in terms of the production that bigger farmers are producing (Source D); however, the long-term effects can be avoided for the most part as more people buy local items more often. The more pedestrians buying local, could limit the bad emission produced, which would in turn save more fossil fuels that the world is currently running out of.
