Many people rely on local food systems in order to live, or make a living. "Buying local" is great and all, but it is not realistic for everyone. Some communities don't have any locally produced foods at all. Some communities are set up to where only people with cars have availability to purchase locally grown foods. For many people, it is much more convenient to purchase food products that were shipped to the location by large corporations. Not everyone has easy access to farmers markets, CSA's, or community gardens.
Having said that, the people that do have access to resources such as CSA's and farmers markets can greatly benefit from them. In some cases, food at farmers markets is cheaper than anything you can find at the super market. Additionally, food from farmers markets tend to be extremely fresh and are not contaminated by loads of preservatives that are used some some supermarket products. This promotes a healthier lifestyle, costs the consumer less money, and supports local farmers and businesses, which is always good for the local economy.
I am all for only buying local foods and products to eat healthier and support local farmers. But, part of what makes this country great is the freedom to expand your business beyond just your local community. Many of the large companies that send products all over this nation started out as small, local businesses. With great success comes growth. So if any local food producer starts to incur success, they will eventually grow beyond the local community and maybe become a national company. And the cycle continues.
If we abandon buying products from the large, national producers in this nation, the economy will be impacted very negatively. So in conclusion, I believe that we should support local food producers by attending farmers markets and CSA's, but we shouldn't completely abandon the supermarket.
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