Eating Local among Food Trends for New Year

Projected food trends for 2007 include an increased consumer demand for locally produced foods. Consumers cite many factors, including freshness, taste, nutrition, and environmental concerns, when discussing their preference to buy locally.

"The evidence is clear," according to Alison Harmon, assistant professor of food and nutrition at Montana State University in Bozeman. "If we look at the growing number of farmers' markets, food cooperatives, and community-supported agriculture programs, it becomes very apparent that the interest and demand for local sourcing of food is on the rise."

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there was an 80 percent increase in the number of farmers' markets nationwide between 1994 and 2002.

"There are several factors that are key drivers of this movement toward local food consumption," Harmon said. "Certainly, freshness and taste are among the most often cited reasons. Think about eating a tomato right off of the vine compared to one that was picked green, crated up weeks ago, and shipped thousands of miles. There is a big difference.

"However, issues such as wanting to know how your food is produced and how it was handled are also very important to people," she added, "especially in light of recent food safety scares associated with big food production facilities."

"Food miles" is a recently coined term that turns up whenever the topic turns to local food. Basically, "food miles" is the distance food travels from production to consumption. People looking to buy locally want a low food miles number attached to their food.

"The fewer your food miles, the more regionally or locally you are sourcing your food," Harmon said. "People are becoming more aware of and sensitive to energy use. With increased fuel prices, conservation of energy is on the minds of many people, and where and how we buy our food impacts this."

When asked if there is anything else at the core of the movement toward local food consumption, Harmon doesn't hesitate: "I think buying locally is an attempt to reconnect with a lost sense of community for many people. With technology, long commutes, and just the hectic pace of living in many places, people are longing for a sense of community. Buying locally grown food helps to fill this void - it provides a connection to the food producers, the land, and to others in the community who have similar values. Local food feels more like home."

Department of Public Health & Human Services