Why Local?
In 2007 the New Oxford American Dictionary named “Locavore” its word of the year, and defined it as people trying to eat diets from foods found within a 100 mile radius of where they live." While it’s difficult to get all the necessary foods you need from within a 100 mile radius (especially in Texas!), the majority of your diet can be sourced locally much more easily than you think, especially when you use Greenling.com. If it is grown in central Texas, then we carry it. And each local product is highlighted on the website for your convenience.
So why eat local? Here are a few important reasons to remember when you’re shopping:
Local food is healthier—and tastes better too!
Most of the food in the grocery store looks nice and ripe. For it to be ripe on the shelves and travel the 1,800 miles average trip it takes to reach your grocery store, it’s picked very, very green. New research is finding that many nutrients in food are created when the food ripens. So when fruits and veggies are harvested early, these nutrients are not allowed to form and are missing from the food you buy. Local producers, however, know that their food travels fewer miles, so they allow their product to ripen in the ground or on the vine longer. When you get local food, you get more nutrients. And in turn, you get fresher and better tasting produce!
Buying local saves energy and helps the environment
We’re consuming about 400 gallons of oil per year per citizen for agriculture. This is a very close second only to our vehicular consumption. This problem cannot be solved by just farming organically. Organic, non-local, food still travels that 1,800 miles journey to the grocery stores. At Greenling we work directly with producers whenever possible. So with food traveling less miles, there is less gas being consumed and it is less hurtful to the environment. Take Organic Valley milk, for example. At first, we couldn’t buy enough to get direct delivery. So this milk would go from east Dallas, down to San Antonio to be processed, then to Denver, then back to us. No thanks. We just went out and found other people to buy from us so we could get it direct. Saves energy, saves gas, and gets you fresher, locally-produced milk.
…And remember, local food can still have pesticides on it. So know your grocery store, know your farmer, and know where your food is coming from. When it comes to ordering from Greenling, we make sure to give you all the information you need to make an informed decision about your locally grown food.
