Top 10 Reasons why buying from local farms is better for you, your people and the world you live in.

Eat better, have peace of mind and improve the world around you.

I have thought a lot about why someone should patronize local farms for more of their family’s food sources and why it is really a good thing?

I mean if we are being honest – it is not convenient. Actually, it requires a little work and   investment on your part. What a pain.

As my PhD student son would say -  “everything is about tradeoffs”  Is it worth it? do the benefits you gain from doing it outweigh the benefits of just opening your Amazon app  or going to Costco or ordering from a big subscription service ?  Let’s take a look – below are my top Ten teasers. I will explore each of these in depth in later Blogs. Stay tuned.   

1. You know what you are eating. With big box stores or big box subscription services – you may or may not know what you are eating. There is a lot to be said about knowing the farmer who grows the food your kids eat.

2. Relationships matter. Having an active relationship with a farmer is mutually beneficial. A healthy relationship fosters our most powerful behavior – trust. 

3. It’s better for you. The body of literature on the human health benefits of Grass and pasture-based proteins over confinement produced proteins is extensive. Broad categories include improved Omega Fat ratios and combating the chronic health disorders associated with the western diet, to higher vitamin densities and lower fat contents. It’s a big category.  

4. Have peace of mind. This is a big one. Not only some peace of mind that what you are putting in front of your family is healthy but also peace that your personal supply chain is less vulnerable today than it was yesterday…. Oh – and a little peace of mind that you are doing your part supporting farming practices you believe are beneficial for the land, the animals and mother earth.

5. Improve your mind. Omega 6 fats in the proper ratio are important for cognitive health, metabolism and cell growth.

6. Improve your gut. There is a growing body of literature that suggests that the decline in the human gut health is linked to industrialized agricultural methods and poor soil health and by getting back to basics and eating regeneratively raised meats that consumed grasses grown in healthy soils is a way of improving our own gut biome.

7. Eat clean, eat more confidently. Related to number one, but small regenerative farms tend to be “clean” or free of contaminants – No chemical residues, no hormones, no crazy vaccines, no antibiotics.   

8. Improve your community. There is something to be said about knowing who is in your village. People who know each other can help each other or know someone else who can. Another tangible concept is taxes. Money spent locally tends to find its way into the local tax base which improves communities locally – the same cannot always be said about money spent in big box stores.  

9. It is better for the animals. If you have ever seen a confinement facility operation (CAFO) you know what I mean. Confinement operations are not natural systems. Mother nature regulates unbalanced systems with disorders and disease to thin out & bring back balance. In CAFOs we use drugs and antibiotics to stave off mother nature.    

10. It is better for the planet. Regenerative practices improve soil health, reduce soil erosion, improve water quality, and reduce pollution. There are whole books on this.

That’s it for now, have a great day.

Kevin, Farm Kernel