The reasons to make local farm products a primary part of your food purchases are many and varied. Here are a few borrowed from NY Farms!, a broad-based statewide coalition of organizations, individuals, businesses, agencies and institutions, committed to the future of New York’s farms and families.

Quality and Value in Nutrition and Taste

• Local is usually fresher and tastes better.
• Fresher food is more nutritious.
• Local food offers better value for your money. You pay for freshness and taste, not packaging, refrigeration and freight.
• Connections to local farms assure that more people in a community have access to culturally acceptable, nutritionally adequate food through local non-emergency sources.

Supports the Local Economy

• Local farms mean more local jobs for local people.
• The economic “multiplier effect” (the number of times a single dollar is circulated in a community) is higher for family farms than other business sectors.
• Every dollar is turned over up to five times when farmers buy supplies, equipment, fuel.
• When you buy directly from farmers, the farm family receives more of the food dollars spent.
• The more farms, the more economic opportunity for people in rural communities.
• Suppliers, processors, distributors and retailers all benefit from diverse local agriculture.
• Owner-operated farms offer individuals self-employment and business management opportunities.
• When you buy local, your money stays local.

Preserves Bio-Diversity, Open Space, Rural Aesthetics and a Cleaner Environment

• Diversity of farms and cropping systems contributes to biological diversity.
• Well-managed farms contributes to an aesthetically-pleasing rural landscape.
• Keeping local farms in business preserves open space and wildlife habitat.
• Farms help maintain high water quality by reducing water run-off.
• Fuel consumption is lowered when food is purchased locally.
• Air quality is higher when fuel usage is reduced.

Sustains Heritage, Tradition, Community and Quality of Life

• Farms enhance our quality of life.
• Farms often provide recreational opportunities.
• Agriculture preserves our heritage and enhances our community experience.
• Farms contribute more in taxes than they cost in services.

Maintains Diversity of Farm Size, Crops and Marketing

• A broad spectrum of farms translates into diversity of ownership, cropping systems, landscapes, biological organization, culture, and traditions.
• A diversity of farms contributes to a healthy, vibrant agricultural economy.