Local Produce -- For the Health of It! 4 Big Reasons You Should Have Local Produce in Your Shopping Cart

The best time of the year!

The Illinois Growing Season!

At Choices, we make a determined effort to seek out and feature local, organically grown produce for our customers. Here are just a few reasons we go out of our way to do this, and why we want our community to join us in our commitment to support our local farmers.

1. Local produce looks and tastes better. It has been picked at its peak and delivered directly to our store, often within 24 hours of harvesting. While large commercial farming operations are focused on varieties that ripen uniformly, resist damage during harvest and shipping, and last a long time on the shelf, local farmers have the flexibility to choose more flavorful heirloom varieties crops with longer growing seasons.

2. Local foods are better for you! The shorter time there is between the farm and your table, the less likely it is that nutrients will be lost from fresh food. No long distance truck or plane transportation is needed and it certainly has not been sitting in a distribution warehouse.

3. Local foods benefit the environment. Our local farmers invest in a healthy ecosystem which helps to preserve fertile soil, protect water sources, and sequester carbon from the atmosphere. By purchasing locally grown food, you also reduce the carbon footprint for transporting it from farm to retail stores.

And most importantly...

4. Supporting local farmers is an investment in the future. By buying locally grown produce, you help insure that we will continue to have farmers in our community who are growing diverse plant varieties to nourish our families--not just corn and soy beans.