Buy Local, Promote Local, Be Local and don’t forget to tell your customers!!
Buy Local, Promote Local, Be Local…….. and don’t forget to tell your customers!!
10 ADVANTAGES OF BUYING LOCAL
Buying and sourcing your food stock locally not only amplifies your local foodie reputation, you also enhance local, regional and national provenance goals. Local and fresh usually translates in better quality, greater taste and retained nutritional levels.
The following highlights 10 objective reasons for buying local, very gratefully borrowed from well.org in the USA. Whilst survey data refers to American research, the principle benefits are universal and if adopted can benefit all communities globally, and lots of small things add up to one huge difference.
To this end, Caterquip UK heavily markets its client catchment within 50 miles of Peterborough. Every little help’s and we believe it does enrich the local economy and lowers the emotional and financial impact of having to source equipment from suppliers far away. Yes, a client may find a Rational combi oven at £200 less, but when you factor in lead times, far reach shipping costs, the cost of getting it indoors and installation, Caterquip can make a significant difference to client’s bottom line.
- Buying local increases community health
According to The Cambridge Journal in the USA, researchers who studied 3,060 counties and parishes in the U.S found that counties with a higher volume of local businesses actually had a lower rate of mortality, obesity, and diabetes. It’s simple: eating foods that are unadulterated with pesticides like organic fruits and vegetables, or free from hormone disrupting compounds like grass-fed meats, pasture-raised eggs and dairy, contribute to a huge upgrade in the Standard American Diet.
- Buying local promotes agriculture
Buying local, raw honey is a particularly powerful way to boost your personal health and support the bee population. Besides helping to reduce allergies, buying honey from a nearby bee keeper promotes local agriculture. Why? Because about one-third of the food we eat relies on bees for pollination. Without Bees, commercial food producers would be in trouble.
- Buying local promotes more local wealth
Buying local reaches beyond better health practices and actually promotes local wealth and jobs. A study in Chicago found that for every $100 spent at a local business, $68 remained in the town compared to only $43 of each $100 at a chain retailer.
- Buying local reduces the use of fossil fuels
Buying from local vendors means the product has less travel time from the farm to your table. All of the energy that is used to transport food via planes, trains, lorries, and ships contributes to global warming and unhealthy air quality. With the release of almost250,000 tons of global warming gasses attributed to the imports of food products, it’s no wonder that purchasing foods from your local producers could make a world of difference in limiting the use of fossil fuels.
- Buying local utilises less plastic
The rate of plastic being used at such a constant pace is circulating pandemonium beyond the endocrine disrupters lining our water bottles. In fact, a whopping 91% of plastic isn’t even recycled which explains why circa 8 million metric tons of it end up in our oceans every year. Buying local goods actually reinforces the action of BYOB (bringing your own bag) culture.
- Buying local uses land more productively
The average “megastore” consumes disturbing quantities of land for commercial use. In fact, the land used for such superstores is around 15 acres because of the buildings and parking lots. The environmental detriment due to this land usage has lead to issues like increased water run-off (contaminated by oils), lowered water tables, and reduction of animal habitats. Most local merchants use land more productively and occupy existing structures. Rather than tearing up land to make profit, shopping local means a vote for the farmers and their land.
- Buying local means less risk for food contamination
Sadly, large industrial settings often breed risk to foodborne illness. From E.coli outbreaks in bagged spinach, to salmonella contaminated almond butters, mass produced foods possess a greater threat to becoming tainted. Food from your local farmers market is fresher and usually safer. At the very most, you will want to rinse off the dirt that accumulates on your veggies.
- Eating local (and seasonal) means more nutrient density
Buying foods according to their best fit season is a huge tip to achieve ultimate nutrient density. Because of mass farming tactics, foods that are not locally grown (and in season) are available to eat year-round. But does that mean they are just as healthy? Absolutely not. In fact, researches in Japan found a threefold difference in Vitamin C in of spinach harvested in summer as opposed to winter.
- Buying local creates connections to people and planet
Staying engaged with your local farms and businesses means a greater sense of community. Having a sense of connection with people creates lasting friendships and also holds such communities accountable for their actions. Getting to visit the farms that grow our foods and physically touch the land goes beyond physical health and nature connects us with the core of humanity.
Buying and sourcing your food stock locally not only amplifies your local foody reputation, you also enhance your local, regional and national provenance goals.
- Eating local means plentiful probiotic produce
Fruits and vegetables that were grown in their native, nutrient dense soils are rich in probiotics. Not only that, locally grown produce that has not been scrubbed off and sanitised still contains soil based organisms which support gut health and immune response. Purchasing a bunch of organically grown carrots at your local farmer’s market is a great way to get your daily intake of “dirt”.
LOOKING AHEAD
Caterquip covers the whole of the UK, but if you are a catering business based within 50 miles of Peterborough we’d like to hear from you. Do you have a kitchen project planned later this year. Do you need to reduce your start up budget and make your money work harder for you? Call us at Caterquip and see how our 23 years of kitchen planning and supply expertise can get you up and running.
01733 286000.
