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Eat Local for Thanksgiving 2007
Take the pledge to have at least one locally grown food at the Thanksgiving table this year.
Register your pledge by November 15 and be entered to win a locally-raised turkey or a Puget Sound Fresh T-Shirt. For more information about local food and Thanksgiving, AND to fill out the pledge form now, visit the Eat Local for Thanksgiving page at Puget Sound Fresh.
- Take the pledge now!
- News about the kickoff event!
Local Food Systems
BALLE Seattle is committed to building Local Living Economies. Food is at the heart of a vibrant, thriving local economy and so we have joined the Eat Local for Thanksgiving campaign to help promote local food and continue the conversation about building a community of local-independent businesses that meet our local food needs locally and responsibly.
Why Eat Local for Thanksgiving?
Harvest festivals and thanksgiving celebrations have occurred for centuries around the world. Each is imbued with cultural traditions and customs that reflect their place of origin and the bounty of their local agricultural production. As people have migrated, a wonderful mixing of these traditions has occurred to create a rich tapestry of celebrations around the globe.
Today, however, when people gather to celebrate Thanksgiving, many are distantly removed from the food sources and traditions of their parents and grandparents. We've lost the connection these celebrations had to local seasons and foods and, consequently, some of their richness and meaning.
Can we reconnect our Thanksgiving tradition with our local agricultural tradition to create a more meaningful celebration? Should we? The answer to both is yes!
This year, don't let your food travel farther than your guests.
Better for the Local Economy
Buying locally grown also helps put more dollars in the hands of local farmers and circulating throughout local communities. Research conducted by Sustainable Seattle indicates that locally directed spending contributes as much as two to three times more to community income than spending at non-local businesses. At farmers markets, for example, for every dollar spent, 62 cents is re-spent locally. For every dollar spent at an average grocery store, 25 cents is re-spent locally compared with 52 cents at a locally-based grocery store. The increase is even greater for locally-based restaurants. For every dollar spent at an average restaurant, 31 cents is re-spent locally compared with 79 cents for locally-based restaurants.
Local agriculture is also good for the community by contributing more in taxes than it requires in public services. According to the American Farmland Trust, for every dollar of tax revenues generated by farms, forests and open lands, they only required 51 cents in public services. Residential development, on the other hand, required $1.25 in services for every dollar of revenue generated.
(Source: http://www.pugetsoundfresh.org/eatlocal/why-eat-local.htm)
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