There are so many people, be it your neighbor, grandma or psychologist in Toronto who believe that buying local meat and produce is the only way to go. They don't trust any fruits or vegetables or meat products sold in grocery stores that don't have that made local stamp of approval. There are some benefits to buying local produce and meat and if you don't want to be corrupted by food media saying otherwise then you've come to the right place.

The first benefit to buying local meat products or produce is that you're supporting your local economy. The money you're spending to buy milk at your neighborhood grocer or fresh blackberries at the community farmer's market isn't going into the pockets of corporate honchos thousands of miles away. Instead your hard earned money is going right back into your community and into the hands of your fellow community members. That money could be going to your neighbor's daughter who worked at a farm all summer or your Mississauga dentist who sells local eggs produced on their farm.

Buying your produce and meat from local sources means less fuel consumption goes into delivering your food. As an alternative to relying on frozen chicken burgers or cherries that are shipped to your grocer or a local catering Waterloo company from miles and miles away, which means a lot of fuel being used up during transportation, you're instead buying food items that didn't take a whole lot of time to get from point A to point B. The less food travels, the greater an impact it has on the community and the environment as pollution is cut back.

Other awesome benefits of buying local meat and produce include producing jobs in the community, being part of organizations that are more likely to give back in terms of donating time or money to nonprofits, and seeing your money go from one local group to another, as many local businesses are more inclined to spend their money on other local businesses. Playing a part in the way your community looks out for each other just through buying locally produced food items is like reading a bunch of motivational posters because there's nothing negative about it! So why not go out to your nearest grocer and buy something that has a made local sticker on it? You'll be glad you did.