6 Health Benefits of Eating Local Produce × Follow Us Create Notifications New User posted their first comment this is comment text Link Approve Reject & ban Delete Log in Manage your profile Editing Story Queue Video Queue Editing Stats Writer Home SEO Redirection Admin Wiki Edits Taxonomy Home Edit Site Menu Mapping Dashboard Tag Pages Community Social Feed Queue Feed Center Notification Center Affiliate Home Manage Pages Bottom Tagline Dash Timeless Stories Logout Health and Fitness Listicle

6 Health Benefits of Eating Local Produce

By Dr Swati Dave Modified 20 Sep 2022 Follow Us Comment Share Eating local produce offers several health benefits. (Image via Pexels/Varan NM) Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for consuming fresh produce has gained much currency. Health-conscious people have, therefore, increased their support for local food as a means to obtain produce with high nutrient density. The more locally sourced and regional food items in our diet, the higher the health benefits. View this post on Instagram Instagram Post In recent years, the trend toward experimenting with other cuisines has been on the rise. Shopping for exotic ingredients, therefore, becomes necessary. For a person in South Asia, this could mean blueberries, Washington apples, kiwi, kale, asparagus, broccoli, lettuce, extra virgin olive oil, and so on. Along with using these inputs in the original recipes, chefs try to use them as substitutes in their local dishes. Although being adventurous in cooking and eating new dishes is welcome, buying locally grown and ethically sourced produce is essential. In this way, we help sustain small farmers and local businesses in our region. Another aspect to remember is that buying from farmers in our region reduces the farm to table distance. It has great savings in terms of energy consumed and environmental pollution. View this post on Instagram Instagram Post

Health Benefits of Eating Local Produce

1. Fewer steps from the farm to reach our plates mean shorter food supply chains. It requires less handling of local produce, thus less likely microbial contamination during transport and storage. As the local farm-grown foods don’t need to travel far-away states and countries, none of the chemicals, namely, enzymes, flavorings, and preservatives are used to expand their shelf life. Local produce, as a result, can ripen naturally, resulting in higher nutrients, and not to mention, better zest, crunch, taste, and flavor. 2. Local foods are nutrient dense as they are minimally processed foods requiring fewer pesticides, herbicides, and artificial fertilizers. By using simple cooking techniques like sautéing, steaming, and grilling, the nutrient quotient of these flavorsome ingredients can easily be retained. Furthermore, local food has a shorter time between harvest and your dining table, and it is less likely that their nutrient quotient has diminished. The longer it takes for farm foods to reach our forks, the greater the loss of their nutritional value like vitamins and minerals. Local produce is consumed fresh, which increases their health benefits. 3. Eating local, fresh produce helps reduce levels of inflammation in the body that otherwise might increase the risk for various chronic diseases: diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and hypertension as well as many cancers. Once you start making informed food choices, the consumption of inflammatory elements like refined flour, oil, sugar, and processed meats get automatically replaced by more local and seasonal fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. 4. It offers a large variety in cooking. Buying and eating in-season fresh products will make available to us what our body needs. Seasonal grown local foods such as lush green leafy vegetables: amaranth, spinach, mustard greens, and vibrant colourful veggies such as sweet potato, mango-ginger, tender pea pods are best picked in winter. Watermelon, musk melon, cucumber, and other water-dense foods keep us well hydrated during the scorching summer days. Home cooking retains the nutrients. (Image via Unsplash/Viraj Sawant) 5. When we shop locally, we support the environment. Transportation costs, fuel consumption, and storage costs are minimized, which leads to less pollution and lower carbon footprint. As intermediaries are eliminated, the price to the consumer is significantly lower. Local produce also calls for not as much plastic packaging and can be sold without any packaging. In addition, local produce requires minimal processing resulting in lesser food waste. Local produce requires no packaging. (Image via Pexels/Ravi Kant) 6. It’s exciting to cook less explored local delicacies that we might not have considered before. It gives us, the minimalists, an opportunity to sit with our grandparents and parents to discuss the origins of our dishes based on our local food produce. Pickling and jam making are a great way to preserve fresh foods with spices and natural preservatives that endow them with several health benefits. Unsplash PC: Evgeny Nelmin, local in-season produce Seasonal, regional, and local food is by and large fresh and more nutritious than food prepared with out-of-season ingredients.

Wrapping Up

So head out to your local food market and explore the in-season produce that is available. You could soon become an ambassador for healthy and sustainable eating along with being a planet warrior. Poll : Do you eat your local and seasonal food produce? not tried yet many times 1 votes Edited by Ramaa Kishore × Feedback Thank You! Be the first one to comment Follow Us Share Show More Comments GIF Comment in moderation 0 0 Reply x Edit Delete Delete the comment? No thanks Delete GIF Cancel Update GIF Cancel Reply ❮ ❯ GIF Comment in moderation 0 0 Reply x Edit Delete Delete the comment? No thanks Delete GIF Cancel Update GIF Cancel Reply ❮ ❯ Be the first one to comment on this story More from Sportskeeda Fetching more content... 1 Manage your profile Editing Story Queue Video Queue Editing Stats Writer Home SEO Redirection Admin Wiki Edits Taxonomy Home Edit Site Menu Mapping Dashboard Tag Pages Community Social Feed Queue Feed Center Notification Center Affiliate Home Manage Pages Bottom Tagline Dash Timeless Stories Logout No Results Found Get the free App now Manage notifications Popular ‍ Sports (30+) CricketCricket HomeScheduleT20 World CupT20 warm upIND vs SAENG vs PAKAUS vs ENGLegends LeagueECS T10 CroatiaWBBL 2022ECC T10SMAT 2022Bukhatir LeagueNZ T20 Tri-SeriesWomen's Asia Cup 2022ECT10 FootballFootball HomeNewslettersSK Experts ScheduleEPLNations LeagueLa LigaLigue 1Champions LeagueFIFA WCMLS Bundesliga Serie A WWEWWE HomeNewslettersRumor RoundupRAWSmackDownResultsRosterChampionsWWE Crown Jewel 2022PPV ScheduleAEW EsportsEsports HomeMinecraftOverwatch 2RobloxGenshin ImpactFortniteGTAStreamersFree FirePUBGValorantBGMIPop CultureAnimeGaming TechWiki Guides TennisTennis HomeTennis calendarTennis Results TodayATP RankingsWTA RankingsRoger FedererRafael NadalNovak DjokovicSerena Williams MMAMMA HomeUFC NewsONE ChampionshipUFC Fight NightScheduleRankingsResultsUFC Fights TonightONE Championship ResultsONE Championship ScheduleONE Championship Rankings KabaddiKabaddi HomePKL 2022PKL SchedulePKL Points TableKabaddi Rules WikiWiki HomeMinecraft WikiNaruto WikiTikTok WikiYoutube WikiGTA WikiTerraria WikiOne Piece Wiki MoreSportsBasketballIndian FootballNFLMinecraftFormula 1NascarPop CultureCollege FootballHockeyGolfAthleticsBadmintonGymnasticsWrestlingSwimmingTennisShootingBoxingArcheryWinter SportsRobloxFree PicksSkateboardingKho KhoLifestyle LINKS About Us Write For Us Policies Editorial Standards Journalism Awards Fact Check Affiliate Program Careers CSR Privacy Policy Contact Us Edition: English हिन्दी