7 Reasons Why Supporting Local Farmers Should Be One of Your New Year’s Resolutions

Consumers can support local farmers in a number of ways—from frequenting local farmers markets to signing up for a CSA share to volunteering and beyond! If you’re lucky enough to have access to local food hubs, markets, or farm stands, we hope that 2025 will be the year for you to invest in your local growers.

Here are some compelling reasons why supporting local farmers should be a priority in 2025:

1. When you buy food directly from a farm, you’re supporting the important work that farmers do. Your purchase helps ensure that farmers can continue to work their land and make a living for themselves and their families.

2. Food from small-scale local farmers is usually grown more sustainably than food from industrial farms. Many take pride in caring for their land and engaging with the community. Certifications, such as “organic,” may be cost-prohibitive for farmers, so the opportunity to talk directly to them about how their food is grown could be helpful for buyers. 

3. Buying from responsible growers helps reduce the impact of industrial farming. Farmers who use sustainable methods often improve soil health, use less water, and create less waste. Plus, when you buy from a farm, your money goes directly to the farmer and not a corporation.

4. Reducing your food miles means you’re buying fresher food and shortening its transport time. Food purchased directly from farms, farmers markets, or CSAs is sometimes harvested just hours before being purchased! 

5. Keeping your dollar in your community is a chance to stimulate your local economy. When local farms succeed, farmers may even provide jobs to others and invest money back into the community. 

6. Farmers markets and CSAs are more likely to have heirloom or unique varieties of fruits and vegetables that are harder to find at grocery stores. For example, Transfarmation™ farmer Tom Lim grows numerous foods from Cambodian culture, such as jujube fruit, lemon grass, and kaffir limes!

7. If variety is the spice of life, you’ll love buying fresh, in-season produce, which is at its peak of flavor and nutrition. When you shop this way, you’re more likely to try something new.

No matter what drives you to support your local farmers, we hope that you’ll consider keeping your food dollar closer to home in 2025 if you can. Whether you invest in a CSA, support local urban farmers, or visit a nearby farmers market, there are many reasons to choose local, sustainably grown food in 2025.

Of course, we recognize that sadly not everyone has a choice within our current food system and supporting local farms isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. 

That’s why our mission is to create systemic change by activating larger-scale shifts through powerful storytelling, policy change, and a broad network of organizations and individuals working to build a more just and sustainable food system.