Most people are accustomed to purchasing their food to eat at home through their local grocery stores, and to the credit of these grocery stores, they do an absolutely outstanding job of taking care of the transportation and distribution issues, amongst other things, in regards to all the various food stuffs that they provide to the public; so that to the consumer the whole process appears seamless and in an important way, makes those consumers believe that the products that they are purchasing are available to them, with relative ease and always will be abundant to them in quantity as well as quality.
The truth of the matter to how our grocery stores are able to carry all of the products that we could possibly need, is pretty much hidden behind the scenes, but necessitates a highly sophisticated network of distribution channels, transportation avenues, coordination, and consistent reliability of which the consumers of such are the beneficiaries. Yet, as good as our grocery stores are, they are susceptible to disruption, because a significant amount of that which is stocked, is not locally sourced; in addition to the salient fact that it is the consumers that are paying with their dollars for the wastage, transportation, damage, storage, refrigeration, and chemicals so needed in order to keep products viable and to extend their shelf life and to thereby reduce product loss.
While there is something to be said about the incredible efficiencies of today's modern farms, whether it be domestic animals, or produce of all sorts; there is also something to be said about the need and prudence of developing and having also local sources of domestic animals and produce, as an alternative. For one thing, the more hands and companies that are involved in the distribution of a given product, the more that each of those processes requires an appropriate financial markup to it, so that the particular institution or farm that are the ones that grow and develop a given food item, are often underpaid in consideration that they are the originators of the food; whereas the more local a given product is, the channels to thereby distribute that to the public are subsequently significantly reduced and thereby the farmer typically does receive a fairer price commensurate to and reflecting their meaningful work. Further to the point, food items that are produced locally, keep that local economy humming better, because the monies so being spent are being spent within that community, as opposed to going into the coffers of some faceless corporate entity.
Additionally, it is good for communities to understand that all the typical transportation and infrastructure involved in order to bring food items to a given grocery store, has a corresponding cost to the environment for such; in addition to the fact, that having a local source to go to for food items allows those communities to not only have that alternative choice but also a valuable local go-to option. After all, there is something to be said for any community that tries to be more sustainable in its own right, as opposed to always being in a position in which it is dependent upon outside agencies for the necessities of everyday life. So too, communities that develop their own local food, are communities that are going to be more involved with their fellow community members and thereby are more appreciative of the fact that we are all in this together, and that each of us has an important role to play in the betterment of life.