With a focus on profits above all else, they promote unsustainable agricultural practices that pollute the air and water, degrade precious soils, are cruel to animals, and speed up the loss of biodiversity.
The system demands huge volumes of perfect-looking produce, a situation that creates massive amounts of waste and shuts out small-scale sustainable family farms, robbing them of their livelihood.
It’s time for communities to take back their food systems and reap the benefits by supporting local farmers markets, community-supported agriculture and other local food systems.
Small farmers minimise their environmental impact with practices such as composting, low transport distances, and no or minimal pesticide use.
They grow more diverse and better tasting varieties, because they are not tied to a system that is focused on high yields and transportability of produce.
Unlike industrial farmers, who pick early so produce can stand up to the rigours of travelling, small farmers are able to let produce ripen on the plant, producing fresher, better tasting and more nutritious food.
Farmers markets do not dictate how produce should look, so ‘imperfect’ produce does not go to waste.
Our community already supports several farmers markets, but you can help us take it further. With more support, we can grow the markets, and encourage more small-scale sustainable farming.
We’ll have access to more fresh and nutritious food, it will strengthen local food security, and you’ll be a making a real contribution to preserving diversity, protecting jobs and local farms, and saving our Earth.
