Years ago in America–and still today, in many parts of the world–food shopping was a part of most families’ daily routines. Daily food shopping is useful when:
- Only fresh foods are available and selection at the market changes daily.
- Households don’t have the space or equipment necessary to store large quantities of food.
- The foods that are available are fresh and do not contain preservatives.
- Individuals and families are operating under a day-to-day or week-to-week budget that does not allow for large, expensive shopping trips.
These days, even though local food and local eating are on the rise and farmers markets are more widely available than they were a few years ago, most of us don’t live close to farming areas, and we certainly don’t go food shopping every day. Even if we’re avid farmers market shoppers and fans of organic local produce, most of us rely on our refrigerators and freezers to carry us through the week, and we rely on the preservatives in packaged foods to keep them fresh.
Fresh, local food items including meats and baked goods don’t stay fresh forever, and organic local produce is free of the pesticides and preservatives that keep grocery store foods perky for extended periods of time.