10 Reasons to Support Your Local Produce Store

It’s happened to the best of us: You’re shopping at your local store. You make your way through the produce section, but can’t seem to find that perfect peach or avocado. If only you went to a specialty produce store!

You’ve rifled through the bin and even after an extensive search for “the one,” you end up walking away empty-handed.

It’s frustrating, to say the least! If you’re looking for more options or better quality than what you find at your typical grocery store, you may want to think about finding a produce store located near you.

Supporting your local community produce store has many different benefits. Check out these 10 to see why you should start supporting your local produce store today.

Locally Grown Food Tastes Better

Believe it or not, it’s true!

Locally grown food is often fresher than what you buy at a typical grocery store because it is picked within the past few days. If you purchase fruits and vegetables that are imported, they’re going to be a lot older than what you can get from your local produce store.

In fact, if you’re buying from a typical chain grocery store, some estimates hold that your food travel about 1,500 miles on average before getting to your plate. That’s a pretty long ride if you ask us!

Local Produce Is More Nutrient-Dense

If the produce on the grocery store’s shelves sat for an entire week before you decided to make a purchase, how many nutrients are lost by the time it gets to your plate?

The answer is a lot.

If you purchase produce that was harvested recently, you won’t lose nearly as many nutrients. Fresh produce not only tastes better, but it’s healthier for you!

Local Food Supports Local Business

When you buy locally, you’re supporting the people who own and operate that farm. You’re making all their investments – from shelving and display furniture, to the point of sale system from somewhere like Revel Systems, even the actual building they are in – all worth the time and effort that they spent on getting them. You are also supporting their employees, their families and all the local business that are effected by those people. This is why some people use Australian local directories in Austrailia to discover more local businesses to support.

Imagine all the local services — including the delivery truck driver — that benefit from your purchasing local produce. It is quite the domino effect! Even if you don’t like to cook from scratch, you can still support local businesses, for example you can order pizza from local pizzerias like slicelife and help fight the war against chain corporations.

Protect the Environment

Buying from a produce store that sells local products ensure that your money is supporting an industry that plays by the environmental rules of the USA. This is especially true when you purchase local organic produce.

Consider also how much less carbon is used in shipping local goods to your local produce store? You would be surprised how many fruits and vegetables that could be sourced locally are shipped from other countries.

Building A Sense of Place

Having a sense of place is important. Consider what it feels like knowing the applese in your pie were grown within a days drive of your oven. Consider the farm where your grass fed beef was raised, or better yet plan a trip the region where your milk and cheese is processed. Maybe see if any tours are available. Understanding that connection between farm and plate is a great thing to do no matter how old you are.

Building a healthy amount of pride for your local farmers is a good thing. Imagine the next time you serve a meal how much fun it could be to tell your friends or family where their food came from.

Support Local Food Culture

The idea of a local food culture may seem foreign to our American sensibilities, but it is possible and it’s happening. Just as regions in France and Italy are known for their wines, meats or cheese, so are regions in the Northwest becoming more and more known for their offerings.

On a whole, the Northwest is known for its seafood and apples, but there are some other local offerings that are a becoming a part of our food culture, whether you know it or not!

Oregon’s Willamette Valley has become internationally known for it’s Pinot Noir, and surely you are aware of Alaska’s Copper River Salmon. But did you know about Washington State’s Historical Oyster Industry?

Also due to a prime climate for growing hops, the Northwest is one of the leading areas in the world for craft beer.

Click for info on tours through Washington’s Wine Country.

Lucky for you, all of these products and more can be found at your local Tacoma Boys and H&L Produce.

It’s for the Future

As your local area grows, there’s no doubt that real-estate developers are itching for more local farms to go out of business so that they can move in and build condos or McMansions for the masses.

By shopping at a local produce store you are supporting those local farms, and the local farming economy. The more people that support local farmers, the more likely those farms will be there for generations to come.

Invest in local farms today, and they’ll not only be there for you tomorrow, but they’ll remain to provide future generations with access to high-quality food as well.

Click to learn about America’s younger generation of farming.

Building Community

You are far more likely to develop a relationship with your local grocer by shopping at a local produce store than you are to frequent the typical mega-grocery-stores. As they get to know your tastes and preferences, they are able to serve you better.

So many of the typical huge grocery stores are focused on the dollar of a quick sale, while your local produce store is more focused on long term security and relationships.

It’s an Experience

Tacoma Boys and H&L Produce offer a unique shopping experience. Whether it’s the neon signs, the custom meat shop or the amazing selection of hanging baskets, ceramic pottery and specialty food items.

Also part of our experience is the unique access you have to fresh samples of our offerings. Want to see how the latest shipment of melons look and taste? Ask one of our knowledgeable staff to cut one open and offer you a sample. We aim to please!

Loyalty

Loyalty to our customers, our vendors and our employees is something we honor and cherish each and every day. We hope you can see that as you walk the aisles through one of our three locations in Puyallup, Lakewood and Tacoma. It might be helpful for local companies to learn more about how digital marketing can support their business, you can read more about this at Salesforce’s website.

Shopping the local produce store is just one of many ways to show loyalty to your area. Think about local loyalty the next time you need to make a purchase, whether its for some vegetables, furniture or beer.

Click for some of our favorite craft beers from Washington State.

Support Your Local Produce Store Today

There are so many great reasons why you should support your local produce store!

Hopefully, we’ve been able to list a few of them here. Let us know if you have some other ideas as to why someone should shop at their local produce store!

If you’re near Tacoma, WA, and want to get your hands on some fresh produce, stop by one of our 3 store locations today!