Going Local....

As a local business we automatically support going local. But why exactly? How does supporting local businesses benefit our community? We know that our livelihood and business depend on people that support us, so in return we try to source as locally as possible, but it's much bigger than that.  Local Food Shift is an organization built on getting the answers to those questions out. Those answers focus on health, the environment and the economy. As far as our health, locally sourced foods need less preservatives and chemicals, creating a better diet for our communities. Although, the drawback is accepting seasonally available items. According to their brochure, Thinking Like a Foodshed, environmentally " the way we currently grow, process, ship, market, and cook our food may be contributing more than 30 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions." By exporting close to 95% of the food we grow here in Colorado we are using more fossil fuels than would ever be needed to distribute within the state, "less than two percent of our total food production in the county [Boulder] is going to feed the people who actually live there". By keeping some of our food production in county and state we're feeding the communities that grew it, and saving money.  Finally, and probably the most compelling reason is shifting to locally sourced food helps our state economy. The result of shifting local by 25%: 31,022 new jobs, $1.3 Billion per year in additional wages, $2.2 Billion per year in Local GDP, and $198 Million per year in State and Local Tax Revenues. Local Food Shift is asking all of us in colorado to pledge on their website, LocalFoodShift.com, that you will make 10% of your family food budget local. We're going to give it a go, why don't you? Write us on facebook or comment here. Let us know what you think, and if you've pledged, how it's going. Let's keep our community conversation going!

Local Food Shift. Thinking Like a Foodshed. Boulder: Local Food Shift, 2012. Print.