Buying Local

What Do We Mean By ‘Buying Local’?

Unlike the issues discussed in previous instalments of our Environmental Calendar, ‘Buying Local’, our topic for June, is a solution to combating a multitude of environmental issues. It refers to the purchase of locally sourced products, namely fruits, vegetables, dairy products, eggs and locally raised meats. It aims to encourage the general public to consider buying their food from local sources, whether that be produce that has been grown in the country you live, or even better, buying from local farmers and also ensuring suppliers are as local as possible.

Ultimately it is all about knowing where your produce is coming from.

Why Should You Buy Local?

Buying local is extremely beneficial, not only for environmental reasons, but it has positive socioeconomic impacts too. We have grouped these into three key factors that you should consider when purchasing goods in the future.

1. Food Mileage

Food mileage refers to the distance that produce travels from where they are grown to where they are eaten. In the UK, when fruit and vegetables are not in season, much of the produce we find in our supermarkets is imported from foreign countries, such as Spain, Portugal and Morocco. This means that our food has a high carbon footprint and its production and transportation (from farm to port, to border, to supermarket, to plate) is contributing to the significant levels of greenhouse gases being released into our atmosphere each year. Buying locally lessens the impact of this in the following ways:

• You can reduce your food miles by purchasing in-season goods that have been grown in the country you live, or even better, farmed locally.

• This diminishes that carbon footprint of the food having been transported into the country from abroad, either by plane or truck.

• Local businesses, such as farmers markets, are also often more accessible by foot or bike, reducing the need to travel by car to get to a large supermarket.

• Produce sold at farmers markets are also likely to have been grown nearby, limiting any need for transportation to its destination of sale.

2. Issues Of Bulk Food Production

There are several issues to consider here.

POLLUTION:

Factory farming can also produce concentrations of dust, gasses and chemicals in the local area, leading to a reduction in air quality and an increase in breathing problems for people living close to the farm.

DAMAGE TO LIVELIHOODS:

Smaller food production operations tend to circulate money within the local community, whereas large scale operations tend to strip communities of their resources.

RESOURCE WASTE:

When food is produced in bulk it is more likely that waste is created. This can be because of bad weather, processing problems, overproduction and unstable markets causing food loss long before it arrives in a grocery store. Uneaten food also puts an unnecessary strain on the environment by wasting valuable resources like water and farmland. 

More traditional farming methods can be relatively efficient, converting grass and other waste products into useful food. But the 'fast-growth, high-yield' factory-farming model is far less efficient, using huge amounts of resources, such as water, grain and oil, but producing little energy in return.

PLASTIC:

Over the past 20 years, countries in warmer climates have seen a huge growth of mass produced crop farming in greenhouse developments that are built using sheet plastic. Unfortunately, regulations have not always been in place to control the dismantling and recycling of plastic when the greenhouse covers are renewed and it is often just dumped, where it ultimately finds its way into our waterways. Please watch this video clip from the BBC TV programme ‘Mediterranean with Simon Reeve’ to see the scale of the issue. 

To help ensure produce remains fresh in transit and increase its shelf-life, much of our food is packaged using single use plastic. This cannot be reused or recycled; in fact, food and food packaging account for as much as 50% of all solid waste. The production of packaging also uses a lot of resources, such as water, energy and petroleum, so its manufacture generates large amounts of greenhouse gases. Buying locally limits these impacts in the following ways:

• Buying local produce reduces your plastic packaging footprint; much less packaging is required because it has much less of a distance to travel in which it needs to be stored safely and kept fresh.

• Most of the produce sold at places, such as farmers markets, are sold loose so are packaging free, and this also means you can just buy the amount you actually need, reducing food and packaging waste.

• It also limits the impact of the plastic crisis from produce grown on mass greenhouse developments.

See our Waste Management and Health of the Oceans calendar entries for more details on the impact plastic waste is having on our planet.

ANIMAL WELFARE ISSUES:

Large scale factory farming comes at a cost to the animals that are caught up in the system. Treated as commodities, animals are often raised in intense confinement, exploited and abused in an effort to boost productivity.

To reduce injuries caused by close confinement, mutilation is commonplace, with animals having their teeth clipped, beaks trimmed and tails docked without pain relief.

This system of food production requires fast-growing animals. This has led to selective breeding becoming commonplace on factory farms, causing problems such as lameness, broken bones, infections and organ failure in vast swathes of the population.

TOXINS & CHEMICAL USE:

Much of the food goods we find in our supermarkets are produced using intensive farming methods, which often use high levels of fertilisers and other chemicals to increase yield. This industrialised agriculture is having significant impacts on the environment and our life support systems, such as water, soil, wildlife and the climate, across the world. Supporting locally grown produce combats these issues.

• Goods produced on smaller-scale, local farms are more likely to be organic, hormone and pesticide free.

• This not only means that they are better for our own health, but also means that they are much less likely to have had a negative impact on the surrounding environment, as chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers can cause significant degradation of other crops, surrounding land, local flora and nearby water supplies.

• This also limits the impact that use of pesticides can have on wildlife (e.g. pollinating insects like bees - see Wildlife Gardening)

• Increasing consumer awareness of knowing where produce is from also encourages farmers to use sustainable agriculture practices and safer ecological practices, with many wanting to achieve an organic certification to improve the nutritional value of their food and further reduce their environmental impact.

• Small-scale farms can also raise a variety of animals, further enhancing biodiversity.

• They can also produce a diverse range of produce in many colours, helping to preserve the genetic diversity of the produce; intensive farming methods on the other hand often use commercial technologies to produce goods of certain genetic strands, which is limiting genetic diversity.

3. Support Local Businesses

The larger our reliance on importing food produce, the smaller the chance of survival for small, local businesses and the greater the risk we pose to the environment. Growing populations equates to a growing need for more land to develop new initiatives such as housing. This is putting a great pressure on local businesses, particularly farmers, who may be struggling to afford to continue to operate. Thus, supporting local business has both environmental and socioeconomic benefits:

• Supporting local farmers helps to keep the land and farming businesses operational, preventing lots being sold to local developers who often transform the land.

• Farmland attracts a range of biodiversity, giving animals, insects and birds a place to live and thrive, so it can also prevent the destruction of important wildlife ecosystems and habitats.

• Buying local also helps businesses to ‘stay local’, creating more jobs in towns, boosting the local economy.

• Money is also reinvested in local businesses and services within the community.

• When you buy local you have the opportunity to talk to those who are growing and handling your produce directly, so you can ask about what practices they use to grow their crops or raise their animals, and you understand exactly how your produce has been harvested.

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