We understand that shopping locally isn’t always the most convenient or the cheapest. However, when you buy locally grown vegetables, handmade bread and pasture-raised eggs, you are paying for the whole cost of the product.
Local, sustainable farmers and makers don’t externalize the costs onto the environment, our community’s health, or poor wages and working conditions for their staff and themselves. Shopping local also supports a healthier environment and community and provides safer, more nutritious food for you and your family!
Take a look at all the things you support when you shop from over 100 local farmers and makers at the Mill City Farmers Market:
MCFM supports local food; food that is fresh, healthy, seasonal and that builds and strengthens local economies. In selecting vendors, MCFM gives priority to regional farmers and producers who bring products to market that are 100% grown and harvested on land they own and/or operate. Occasional non-local exceptions, reviewed on a case-by-case basis, are made for producer direct products that complement MCFM’s mission and fill product gaps.
Furthermore, MCFM requires vendors selling value-added foods, baked goods and prepared food must use a minimum of 25% local ingredients, preferably using local ingredients sourced directly from MCFM agricultural vendors. Read more about our Local Sourcing Standard.
Learn more!
- University of Washington, ‘The Benefits of Eating Locally Grown Foods’
- ‘Why Buy Local? It’s Healthier for You and Better for the Environment’
- Farmers Market Coalition, ‘Farmers Market Talking Points’
- TEDTalk: ‘The World Needs Less Food’ by Brent Preston
- ‘Your Questions About Food and Climate Change Answered’ (NYT, April 2019)