Home Gardening Inspiration & Education

It is a universal truth that fresh fruits and veggies are a staple in a well-rounded healthy diet. Fresh veggies dipped in some hummus or fresh fruit on top of yogurt are my favorite snacks. They give you that pick me up midafternoon and satisfy my need for crunch without having to reach for the chips or my need for sweet without reaching for the leftover easter chocolate (which let’s face it I really should have thrown out by now). That being said, not all “fresh” is equal, the “fresh” I get from the fresh produce aisle at the market is not equal to the fresh produce I harvest from my garden. There are multiple reasons store bought is not equal to locally grown and we discuss some of them in our blog post “Is Eating Local Really Important?” but today we will focus on the “fresh” in Fresh produce, the difference at a nutritional level. 

Fresh is defined as “recently made or obtained; not canned, frozen, or otherwise...

The simple answer to this question is absolutely, eating locally produced food is healthier for you, your family, and the environment. When you think of eating locally you probably think growing in your back yard or a farmers’ market and you’re not wrong those are my favorite ways to stay local! Going to a farmers’ market and discussing the variety of squash with the grower themselves and asking how they manage their farm is healthy, informative, and social. That being said, there is more to eating local than just farmers markets and home gardens.  

Before you go any further, I want to define what I mean by eating local food because you may not know but there is no universally accepted definition for “local” produce. Local is defined by the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 as 400 miles away or within your state. That definition isn’t good enough for me, I would like to add that local also means responsibly produced. For a...