Environmental Action

How environmental challenges affect our food system 

It’s hard to ignore the reality that our current global food system— where industrial, mass-produced food travels along long supply chains to reach supermarket shelves— has created deep environmental concerns and impacts. 

Get involved and take action! Click the buttons below to learn about these environmental issues and how sustainably grown & raised food and community-based food systems have become viable solutions in curbing some of these devastating impacts.

Local Food is Good for the Environment

Local, sustainable agriculture regenerates the environment by building healthy soil that facilitates increased carbon sequestration and leads to cleaner air. It also creates less (or no) agricultural runoff, which keeps drinking water clean and improves wildlife habitats. Integrating natural mechanisms for composting and recycling diverts food waste from landfills and reduces the amount of methane released into the environment. In fact, eating local and sustainably raised food is one of the most impactful choices you can make to reduce your individual carbon footprint.

In the last century, we have lost 75% of the genetic diversity in the foods we grow and eat. Small farmers and gardeners grow heritage and native varieties of produce and save and share seeds that are less water intensive and adapted for the regions in which they grow. Biodiversity makes our local food system more secure because we are less dependent on a small group of vulnerable crops and an industrial food system that harms our ecosystem.

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