Rooted in Local: Why Fresh Food Should Start Close to Home

Hello fresh food fans! My name is Grace Reiter and I am the co-founder and COO of Verdantt Fresh! Growing up in a small town in Northwest Ohio and being surrounded by a family of 5th generation farmers, I learned that the way we choose to eat matters more than you think. I am a fervent advocate for living sustainably and helping others do the same - hence why I am so excited for you to get your hands on our Verdantt products!

In our modern world, fresh food has become increasingly disconnected from the people who grow it. Much of what we eat has traveled thousands of miles, sitting in cold storage for weeks before it reaches shelves. That journey comes at a cost: lost nutrients, reduced flavor, higher emissions, and a growing sense of disconnection from where our food comes from and the people that work tirelessly to grow it.

Helping Out on the Family Farm

At Verdantt Fresh, we’re working to bring freshness to your fingertips – this means increasing access to higher quality produce! Let me explain why that is so important to you, to me, and to the planet: 

1. Local Food Tastes Better & Is More Nutrient-Dense

Produce begins to lose nutrients the moment it’s harvested. As soon as fruits and vegetables are harvested, they begin to breathe, and this process (respiration) breaks down their stored nutrients. When food travels across the country, or even the world, days or weeks can pass before it reaches your fridge. On the other hand, local food is harvested closer to its peak and delivered to you sooner, retaining more of its vitamins, minerals, and flavor. You can taste the difference in a just-picked apple as opposed to one shipped from thousands of miles away - not to mention, your gut health will thank you, too!

Allow me to share some good news! This loss of nutrients can be minimized through proper storage - look out for our storage tips in the Verdantt app so that you can get the most out of your produce. 

2. Shopping Local Strengthens Local Economies

When you buy from large, industrial suppliers, most of your dollar goes to intermediaries like distributors, marketing firms, and other massive retailers. These days, farmers have to pay 40-60% in administration fees just to get their products on the shelves of grocery stores. But when you buy local, more of that money stays within the community. It helps support small farmers, urban growers, and food artisans trying to make a living off the land and their craft.

At Verdantt, we will work directly with local suppliers and regional farms to stock our machines (coming soon). That means every purchase helps sustain small food businesses that may otherwise struggle to compete with industrial agriculture.

3. Local Food Reduces Your Diet’s Environmental Footprint

Globalized food systems rely on long-haul transportation, refrigeration, and packaging, all of which contribute to carbon emissions. The distance food travels, commonly referred to as food miles, generates 3 gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions annually; the transportation of specifically fruit and vegetables contributes 36% of food mile emissions. Eating locally grown food significantly shortens the supply chain and reduces the need for fossil fuels and single-use plastics for packaging. 

4. Buying Local Builds Food Resilience

Global food supply chains are vulnerable; we’ve seen it with climate disruptions, pandemics, and transportation shortages. However, local food systems are more adaptable and resilient. When food is grown closer to home, it’s easier to pivot in times of crisis, meet demand quickly, and keep people fed.

5. Local Lets the Season Set the Menu

One of the most overlooked benefits of eating locally is your ability to eat with the seasons. When food is grown nearby, your options naturally shift with the climate and harvest cycles around you. You might get crisp apples in the fall, citrus in the winter, leafy greens in the spring, and juicy tomatoes in the peak of summer. By eating seasonally, you're enjoying produce harvested at its peak, meaning it’s more nutrient-dense and full of flavor. Compare that to out-of-season fruits and vegetables, which are often grown in artificial environments or shipped from far away, picked early, and ripened with gas or refrigeration - this is why a strawberry in January rarely tastes like a strawberry in May. Eating seasonally teaches us to respect nature’s timing, and it helps us reconnect with food as a living, growing thing, not just a product on a shelf. 

At Verdantt, we work with local growers to align our offerings with what’s naturally in season. That means what you see in one machine in Arizona might be different from what’s stocked in another in Ohio - and that’s a good thing!

6. It Reconnects Us to Food’s True Value

83% of food waste occurs between the operator and the home. When you know where your food comes from, you waste less of it because you respect the work behind it; you make healthier choices, because you’re connected to the source. In a world dominated by convenience culture and ultra-processed options, local food reminds us to slow down and eat with intention.

Growing up with a family of farmers really instilled in me that food should nourish us, bring us together, and reflect the soil we live on. Whether you’re a farmer’s market regular or someone just learning what’s in season near you, choosing local is one of the most impactful decisions you can make in your diet - for your health, your community, and the planet.