Why do you shop for local food?
- Laura Wayte
- 1 minute ago
- 3 min read
We are so grateful to our community! We love the CSA members, the market regulars, the first-time farmers market shoppers, the small children who are fascinated by farm animals, the restaurateurs who cook with our meats, the grocers who carry our eggs, the local producers we carry in the CSA: all of it adds up to a vibrant, interconnected community!
The season of Thanksgiving is a perfect time to acknowledge this, but really it goes throughout the year. We work hard in different ways during the different seasons and through it all the customers are supporting our work with their buying choices.
I recently came across a study from North Carolina looking at why customers purchase locally grown and produced food. It got me thinking about finding out the reasons our FFCSA and Deck customers prefer local food, too. So, let’s look at some of the results from North Carolina and then I’d love to hear from you about your reasons.
Their study found that:
A big majority (87%) of all respondents shop for local food once a month or more
Local food shoppers reported shopping at farmers markets, farm stores/farm stands, and CSA shares while typical shoppers reported more shopping at limited assortment grocery stores and dollar/convenience stores.
Top three reasons to buy local or non-local, no matter the income level
Local: Connecting with and supporting farm, health considerations, and taste were customers’ top three priorities when buying local food.
Non-local food was purchased because of price, health considerations and convenience
Top priorities for local food shopping did not appear to be affected by household income.
Both income groups, over and under $75,000 annually, chose to buy local in order to support farmers and farm workers, for their health, for flavor, and because they want to know where and how their food is grown.
The top three barriers to purchasing more local food were similar among consumer groups:
the market/store hours or locations can be inconvenient
shoppers are unable to purchase all of their groceries in one place
local food is considered expensive.
Where to improve: Factors that would allow customers to buy more local food included better labeling and education on where to buy locally
87 percent of local food shoppers and 74 percent of typical customers expressed a strong desire to buy more local food for their household.
This is all such great news: People value local food, they value local businesses, they want what’s best for their families and they wish they had better access. We can work with this!
Of course, given who we are, we are all for supporting local farms, but not only because it helps our business. John and Christine Deck did not go into this work for the big, easy profits! It is a lifestyle and belief that the scale of agriculture has gotten out of hand.
We believe having local producers of food creates a more resilient and healthy community in so many ways. Yes, we have resilience because there’s sources of food closeby to our towns, but also:
Those towns are surrounded by more green spaces.
The animals raised are healthier and live happier lives.
The local economy creates relationships and networks of inter-dependence.
More jobs are created and stay here in the region.
As more farms turn to organic and regenerative practices, the soil, air and water become healthier.
Knowing your farmer is a trust-based relationship which fosters goodwill and wellbeing for both sides of the equation.
Can you think of other benefits to buying locally-grown? Do you have stories to tell about the choice you make to shop with us and with other local farmers? Are there challenges to shopping for local foods that you have ideas about?
