For the summer I am working at restaurant called Aurora. We only use local Pender Island greens from Hope Bay Farms. My salad contained carrots, onions, spinach, lettuce, and tomatoes all which came from Hope Bay Farms. The vegetables are sent to the resort where I work a couple times a week in a large reusable Tupper wear container. Very little gas is used, almost zero waste from wrappers or containers and they are organic and fresh with no preservatives or pesticides.
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If you buy food from the grocery store, it could have been shipped from thousands of miles away from your home town. This can leave an enormous carbon footprint to get produce you can often find locally. By supporting farmers close to home you assist in preserving crops, orchards, and other green plots in your region. The smaller number of processes there are between the source of your food and your table lowers the risk of it being contaminated. When you are knowledgeable of where your food is from and who farms it you become much more familiar with the food. Money spent locally on farmers, growers, and locally-owned stores and restaurants improoves your district’s economy as oppose to large conglomerates at another location benefitting. Because the products are passed through much fewer hands, the money will benefit the people growing it. Being acquainted with your food and who is growing it unites you to the farmers who raise or grow it. This way you can develop tighter-knit links to additional food sources
Photo of Hope Bay Farms