Guest Post: Sarah Zastrow the Stress Expert and Founder of Cultivate Balance
With all the uncertainty surrounding Covid- 19, it’s a good practice to control the things you can and forget the rest. In essence, we should “pick our battles”.
One thing we can control is where we get our food.
Whether you shop at your neighbor’s roadside farm stand or the local farmers market, shopping local is best.
We all know that grocery stores and their employees are doing their best to keep things stocked and cleaned however shopping local and supporting neighboring farms is the cleanest and safest way to get fresh produce and meat.
5 Ways shopping local reduces stress and anxiety surrounding Covid- 19:
- By shopping local we know where our food comes from. We are buying food from the person who grew it! We don’t have to worry about where it came from, what’s in it, or how it was grown because we can meet the farmer, say hello, and ask them questions.
- The person preparing, harvesting, and packaging your food is healthy. There is so much about Covid-19 that we don’t know. Can the virus be transmitted through food? I hope not, but the CDC does say that the virus can live on plastics and food wrappers. If we shop local, there are fewer people touching our food and person is less likely to be sick. We are less likely to bring home the virus to our families
- You aren’t going to the crowded grocery store. Grocery store workers do an excellent job of keeping things clean, however with hundreds of people in and out every day there are still a lot of germs. By shopping local there are less germs, less people and therefore it’s safer.
- By purchasing produce locally, there is less shipping, reducing the carbon footprint. With less trucking and delivery, our planet benefits too. Look at how clear the skies are in Los Angeles, China and India, let’s keep that smog to a minimum.
- When you spend money with local farmers, they spend money, putting your dollar back into our local economy. Shopping local is better for you and your community.
So, shop locally for safer food, less packaging, less shipping, less handling, and more local support.
If you aren’t sure where to look go to http://mifma.org/findafarmersmarket/ to find your local farmers Market. Many farmers markets and farm stands are still open and happy to provide high quality local produce to you even through Covid- 19.