NGO Spotlight: FoodRoutes Network

FoodRoutes begs you to ask the question: Where does my food come from? Not surprisingly in today's mechanised, industrialized world, much of America's food supply comes from large corporate farms, grown in large scale and spending days being packaged and shipped from field to plate - hardly fresh and hardly environmentally friendly.

The FoodRoutes Network wants to reintroduce America to its food. They use community based grassroots chapters to rebuild local food systems and promote sustainable agriculture. You may have seen or are familiar with the "Buy Fresh, Buy Local" signage (shown above) used by local chapters to promote buying local food.

Why buy locally grown food? If you tend your own backyard garden or purchase produce from a farmer's market, you already know that you get exceptional taste and freshness over supermarket produce shipped from afar. You get regional varieties of food with a name and a face you can trust, things you may not get at chain supermarket. You also strengthen the local economy, support family farms, and protect the environment.

What is sustainable agriculture? Sustainable agriculture refers to the ability of a farm to produces food indefinitely, without causing severe or irreversible damage to ecosystem health. Industrial farms often require a large investment in resources such as water, fertilizers, pesticides, and antibiotics in order to replenish the soil and keep animals healthy. Smaller farms producing a variety of food goods require fewer resources and leave a smaller carbon footprint.

FoodRoutes with the help of their "Buy Fresh, Buy Local" community chapters work at the state and local level to involve more consumers in revitalization of our local food systems. They connect farmer's markets, restaurants, grocery stores, food co-ops, and large scale institutions, like colleges and retirement homes, with local food supplies. They organize outreach events and produce local food guides and educational materials in order to make it easy for consumers to find and connect with local food from farmers they can know and trust.

How do you get involved? It's as easy as going to your local farmer's market or food co-op and purchasing produce and meat grown locally. Now that's a vote for change you can taste! You can also join or form your own "Buy Fresh, Buy Local" community chapter. Visit the foodroutes.org for more information.

_______________________

The FoodRoutes Network is part of a larger Buy Local movement to encourage Americans to purchase food and goods made or grown closer to home and is something I have written about previously.

I encourage you to always ask the question: Can I buy local?