This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Business & Tech

Why Buy Local?

When it comes to locally grown food, there's more to it than just better nutritional value. You are also helping to save the environment.

As you prepare dinner tonight, take a look at the food that you bought and try and guess where it came from. Is it from a local farm that practices safe, organic growing methods ? Or are the ingredients you are using full of preservatives to keep them fresh and used hundreds of gallons of gas to travel thousands of miles to end up on your dinner plate?

"Buy Local, Think Global" has been a popular slogan to encourage consumers to support locally grown agriculture. But, do we all know exactly why? Here's the scoop.

When you support local businesses, it helps to create and sustain jobs for local communities. And local businesses are more likely to use other local businesses for services such as banking and advertising.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, some 5 million farms have been lost since 1935. Most likely, those were farms that communities supported. Not only are local farms producing more nutritious food for you and your family, but they help the environment too.

Most local farms use organic means of farming that benefits both your health and the environment. When you know where your food comes from, you know that it is fresh and comes from a farm that is most likely free of harmful pesticides, hormones, fertilizers and preservatives. Not only do these impact your health, but they also greatly impact the environment.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Such hazardous materials seep into the ground, our drinking water and are also consumed by animals used for human consumption. It's a vicious cycle that oftentimes winds up as food on dinner plates and water in the glasses of American citizens.

If it's not local, how did it get to my super market? Food transportation uses large amounts of fossil fuels that pollute the atmosphere. Scientists are looking at food transport as a major contributor to climate change and pollution. Keeping food fresh during travel also uses lots of energy, packaging and waste.

And that's just produce. Let's take a look at meat production.

In 1961, the world's total meat supply was 71 million tons. In 200 7(hold onto your seats), that number was 284 million tons and it is expected to double again by the year 2050.

An article published in the New York Times reported that "at about 5% of the worlds population, America grows and kills 10 billion animals per year, more than 15% of the worlds total."

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 30% of the earths ice-free land is used  for livestock production.

A study that was conducted in 2007 by the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Japan found that only 2.2 pounds of beef is responsible for the same amount of CO2 emissions of an average European car travelling over 155 miles. And get this, that same 2.2 lbs of beef and all the energy it takes to produce it can light a 100 watt bulb for almost 20 days.

Another report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) showed that meat production contributes to somewhere between 14-22% of the 36 billion tons of green house gasses per year.

If we can cut down on meat consumption alone, it would have the same effect on the environment as if everyone who owns an SUV would switch to driving a Toyota Prius. That's a fact.

According to the FAO, "It turns out that producing a 1/2 lb of hamburg for someones lunch, a patty of meat the size of two decks of cards releases as much green house gas into the atmosphere as driving a 3,000 lb car nearly 10 miles."

There are many farms within Massachusetts that sell produce, flowers and meats to our local stores, farmers markets and co-ops.

The Marblehead Farmers Market opened this past weekend and they feature a variety of locally grown organic and conventional produce and meats. Farms represented are located in such towns as Danvers, Amesbury, Salisbury, Lunenburg and Vermont.

According to the Famers' Market website, they have three goals. They want it to be a community building event, an opportunity for the community to eat better, give support to local farmers who would otherwise have to sell off their fields to developers and keep viable, local food sources.

Whole Foods and Fruit of the Four Seasons here in Marblehead also feature locally grown produce and meats. Although most are organic, you can still feel good about buying local, non-organic and know that you are helping the environment. Many smaller farms that may not be "certified" organic still practice safer growing and harvesting methods than their industrial counterparts.

Try and visit the Marblehead Farmers Market which is open on Saturdays from 9-12 at the Marblehead Veterans School. It runs through October 22 with the addition of November 5th and 19th. Check them out online at www.marbleheadfm.com for more info.

Marblehead Patch will be posting a Viewfinder from this weekend's market.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?