From farm to grocery store, veggies travels an average of 1,200 miles*. 1,200 miles! If you were to travel 1,200 miles from Milford, you could land in New Orleans, North Dakota, or Turks and Caicos! A grocery store salad just may rack up more frequent flyer miles than you do this summer. Fortunately, there’s a simple way to avoid jet-lagged veggies and all of the unnecessary environmental impacts that result from their exotic travels. Routinely pick up local veggies at the farmers market and you will come to have a global impact.
Veggies average a 12-mile journey from our farms to your hands. Instead of California, Mexico, and Canada, the veggies come from Bethany, Branford, and Milford. Our supply chain network is as complicated as River Crest Farm driving their truck over from the north side of town. Every time you replace a head of lettuce from the grocery store with one from the market, you’re saving an average of 1,188 miles in shipping.
Can you imagine the impact if you picked up your veggies at the market all season long? Let’s say you consume 10 veggies per week. Perhaps 2 heads of lettuce, 2 tomatoes, 2 cucumbers, 2 peppers, a head of broccoli, and a bunch of beets. By purchasing this lot at the market, you save 11,880 miles in shipping weekly. Now let’s say you shop at the market throughout the 17-week season - you’re up to 201,960 miles saved. Those miles can get you around Earth’s equator over 5 times!
Your individual impact is amazing, but the numbers get even more dramatic when the neighbors get in on the game. Suppose everyone in Milford, about 54,000 people**, shopped at the farmers market. As a community, we would save nearly 11 billion miles each market season! How far can 11 billion miles take us? Buckle your seat belts; we’re traveling from Milford to the Sun, from the Sun out to Pluto, and from Pluto back to Milford, with a couple billion miles to spare.
Admittedly this is fun math based on many assumptions. It does show, however, that a local routine can come to have a global impact. It’s our little daily actions, like how far we drive to work or where we buy our food, that ultimately define the effect that we have on the environment.
This Saturday take a stroll in the sunshine to the market. You’ll leave with your local favorites, a smile, and a smaller environmental footprint. Saturday, 9 to 1, Wasson Field!
Saturday, August 3rd
Sun and clouds. Temperatures in the 70s. A light breeze.
Live music by The Sabbs Brothers.
Expected Tents
Farms:
Clover Nook Farm (veggies and fruits)
River Crest Farm (veggies, flowers, and duck eggs)
Vaiuso Farm (veggies and flowers)
Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm (pasture-raised meats)
Prepared Foods:
Elm City Cookie
Scratch Baking (and coffee!)
Health and Wellness:
Ally’s Earth Treasures
Herbal Deva
Sabatino Chiropractic
Home Goods and Gifts:
Crystal Beetham Art
Stefanie’s Clips
Usborne Books
Beauty and Skincare:
Ridge Runner Soaps
Jewelry:
Milford Rocks
Park Lane Jewelry
*Consumer Reports
**Connecticut-Demographics
