Why do we need a local food system? Locally grown food has a smaller carbon footprint because it has to travel less to nourish us. Local food systems build connection and community with our health, create healthy habitats for pollinator species, and grow resilient regional economies.
It’s not only important to be locally grown, but with methods that protect our watersheds, animal and plant life, and soil health. Most industrially grown food intensively uses harmful pesticides that pollute land and water, exploit local people for their labor and harm their health, and steal land from Indigenous peoples. Supporting local food systems all over the world creates regional, cyclical economies that benefit the livelihoods of everyday people in those communities.
