'Buy local' trend also good for environment

Raleigh, N.C. — Some environmentalists say you can "go green" by buying locally-grown foods.

“We just had our minds set on buying some fresh stuff,” shopper Julia Alston said.

Alston says she liked to shop at the State Farmers Market, 1201 Agriculture St. in Raleigh. Some of her favorite purchases are center-cut ham and molasses.

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'Buy local' trend also good for environment

"You want to keep your money where you live,” Alston said.

Farmer Mike Jones, of MAE Farm Meats, 57 Mitchell Church Way in Louisburg, agrees that everyone should try to buy local.

"If you buy local foods, you support your local farmers,” Jones said.

Buying local is big trend, according to Fred Thompson, publisher of "Edible Piedmont."

"In central North Carolina, we have a wealth of stuff that a lot of folks just don't know about,” Thompson said.

Buying locally-grown foods is also often healthier for the environment.

"We don't have run-off in the streams. We don't have problems because of overproduction on one piece of land,” Thompson said.

However, not everyone agrees about whether buying locally-grown foods reduces greenhouse gases. Last year, a study found only 4 percent of greenhouse gas emissions resulted from delivery of food from farm to store.