The Benefits of Locally Grown Produce

In Ben Hewitt’s The town that saved food, the author discusses the town of Hardwick, Vermont and its wide range of ground-breaking agricultural businesses. He discusses how the local farmers, NGO executive directors, and business people with real values are working together to redefine their food system. There are many interesting facts that are listed in Hewitt’s book including the fact that the average food travels 1,500 miles to get on our table. The other day, on the news I heard about how the food prices are rising and how many super-markets, including Kroger, are blaming this on the rise of fuel prices – among other natural disasters. The entire food system in the US is highly dependent on fossil fuels and if anything disrupts fossil fuels the food industries will no doubt come crashing down – this is pretty scary when you think of the disastrous effects that this poses on millions of innocent people. Although the food prices are rising, the author does state that overall in today’s age we are consuming the cheapest food which also happens to be the most corrosive food in history – because of the fact that it has been industrialized. According to the author, we have allowed this industrialization of food to take place because we refuse to “toil in the soil”. We pretty much have placed the quality of our lives into the hands of food industries that only care about their profits. Overall, the message that I received from this book is that it is extremely important to reshape the food system and turn it into a local thing rather than having it be industrialized. This way not only would the food produce be independent from fossil fuels, people would be able to consume a diet that is healthier.

One of them main problems that many Americans are facing are health problems. I have learned from all the class readings and lectures that most of these diseases can be prevented just by a change in the diet. This is one of the many advantages that I feel local farming...