10 Reasons to Eat Local Food

1) Eating local means more for the local economy.
2) Locally grown produce is fresher & more nutritious.
3) Local food just plain tastes better.
4) Locally grown fruits and vegetables have longer to ripen.
5) Eating local is better for air quality and pollution than eating organic.
6) Buying local food keeps us in touch with the seasons.
7) Buying locally grown food is fodder for a wonderful story.
8) Food with less distance from farm to plate is less likely to be affected by food contamination.
9) Local food translates to more variety including unusual & heirloom varities.
10) Supporting local providers supports responsible land development.

Local Food

There are many reasons to eat locally – eating local food is better for the local economy; the produce is fresher & more nutritious; it is better for air quality and pollution caused by long distance shipping of non-local foods; it keeps us in touch with the seasons and the earth; it makes for a wonderful story; it offers more variety; it promotes sustainable land development; and it just plain tastes better.

At Little City Farm we promote local foods in a big way. Of course we grow much of our own food (produce, herbs, mushrooms & edible flowers) in our gardens, and try to source out different heritage varieties to grow each year. But eating fresh out of the garden is just the start.

We also bake our own breads, often in our outdoor wood-fired oven, with locally grown organic flour. We preserve, dry and freeze fruits, berries and vegetables for use during the winter months. We make jams and chutneys, can peaches, applesauce, tomatoes & cucumber pickles, and store bushels of root vegetables such as carrots, onions, garlic and potatoes. We experiment with fermenting foods to make natural sauerkrauts, crock pickles, yogurt, wine and sourdough. We dry herbs for culinary, medicinal and tea use (read more about Homestead Herbals). When fresh greens are limited, we grow indoor sprouts such as alfalfa, spicy radish mix, wheatgrass, and sunflower shoots. We host a bi-monthly local food-buying club in our neighbourhood to supply bulk dried goods such as flour, grains and beans. We support local farmers through membership in produce buying clubs, CSA’s and weekly trips to our farmer’s market.

Local food must be celebrated! We would like to see old homesteading kitchen practices not be forgotten, so we offer ongoing food-related workshops on topics such organic gardening, canning, sprouting, fermenting, herbal teas, winemaking, heritage apple tasting, wood-fired baking, and more. View Workshops & Events for more details on upcoming topics.

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