Connecting Local Farms with Restaurants and Markets - Supporting a Sustainable and Thriving Local Food System
Why Local is Best
Eat Local Eat Natural is committed to supporting a sustainable and thriving local food economy. We do this by scouting and building relationships with farmers and processors primarily within 150 miles from our Ann Arbor warehouse. Why is buying local foods important to us? There are so many reasons:
The Farms
The farmers we work with are exclusively small family farms or businesses. We avoid factory farms and CAFOs and their unsustainable and unhealthy practices. We get to know our farmers. We understand the methods that they use and the humane way that they treat their animals. Our animals are free range, pasture-raised and are never given antibiotics, hormones or fed animal by-products. Whenever we can, we source certified organic or farms that use organic practices.
The Foods
The foods that we provide are nutritionally better and taste better. This is because of how they were raised and fed. The nutritional level of naturally small farm raised foods is higher than commercial foods. And because they are raised locally, they get to you faster, which means fresher. This is more inline with how our grandparents and great-grandparents consumed food.
The Environment
Our farmers are often multi-generational who have been farming the same small farms for years. They avoid harmful chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides keeping our air, water and soil clean and safe. Because the food is supplied locally, the food miles travelled are greatly reduced, reducing our carbon footprint.
The Local Economy
Currently only 7% of food dollars stay within its community. When we buy locally, we help to keep the majority of those dollars circulating within and supporting the local economy.
How We Do Local
Our mission is to find local farmers and processors who have farming methods that are healthy, humane and sustainable. They often have challenges reaching the local markets that require refrigerated transportation and links to restaurants and markets. We get to know our farmers and processors and we learn how they operate their enterprises. This helps us determine if they fit our requirements for practices that are healthy, sustainability and humane. We strive to work within 150 miles of our warehouse in Ann Arbor and we work exclusively with small family farms. Happily, every year we see more people starting small farms and we see existing farmers converting to healthier and more sustainable practices. Buying local is here to stay. We currently serve Ann Arbor, Detroit, Lansing, Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids!
