How to eat locally and healthily without breaking the bank?

“Eating local costs more! »

We have often heard this famous phrase in recent years where many think that eating locally necessarily means increasing your food budget. However, when planned well, eating local is both healthy and affordable. In this article, we explain to you why eating local is important and we give you our advice to make eating local, healthy and affordable achievable.

Why eat local

Eating local means eating quality products

Products that do not come from here must travel several thousand kilometers to get to us. The longer the fruit, vegetables, meat or fish have traveled, the more they will lose nutritional qualities. Indeed, as soon as, for example, vegetables are picked, they enter a phase of decomposition and lose their flavor and nutritional properties over time.

Local products have fewer preservatives

Since they undergo less transportation and arrive on our plates more quickly, local products do not need artificial preservatives. They also do not receive conservation processes which can cause them to lose quality. Eating locally prevents you from consuming all these chemicals that are harmful to your health.

Eating local also means participating in the development of the local economy

Eating local means encouraging Quebec breeders and producers, and also promoting the growth of the provincial biofood sector. It's simple, the more we encourage local producers, the greater the supply of local products will be. The more we consume food from responsible sources, the more the market will transform in this direction.

Our advices

1. Choose Seasonal Foods

Seasonal foods are foods that grow locally. The trick is to choose local, seasonal foods that store and freeze well. This way, you will be able to eat local all year round and at an affordable price. For example, in summer, there are Quebec products at low prices almost everywhere. In the fall, it's time for root vegetables. These cost next to nothing and last a long time. Now is a good time to stock up on potatoes, carrots, parsnips, onions, radishes, etc. During the winter and spring, this is the perfect opportunity to eat local foods that you have prepared and frozen during the previous months.

Choosing seasonal foods is less expensive and here's why:

• Seasonal foods cost less to produce and therefore sell for less to consumers. For example, growing greenhouse tomatoes in winter requires a lot of time, resources and infrastructure. All of these costs are reflected in the prices charged to customers.
• Farmers are successfully growing more fruits and vegetables outdoors. A large quantity produced generally comes at a lower individual cost.
• Seasonal products travel much less. No matter where it comes from, imported food is expensive to transport. Seasonal and local foods have no import costs and, usually, no transportation costs. Eating local simply means favoring the consumption of foods that have traveled as little as possible from the earth to your plate.

2. Plan

It's often said that the worst enemy of your grocery bill is waste. To avoid throwing money in the trash, meal planning is important. This way, you can only buy the ingredients needed to cook your meals during the week. Make a list of foods you need and check the contents of your refrigerator and pantry before purchasing other foods and even before planning your menu. You can plan meals based on the foods you have, before they expire. When you're ready to buy your food, try to avoid impulse purchases. A good tip would be to order online. This way, you will only buy what you need. Additionally, try to stick to your plan as best as possible. Is it tempting to order takeout after a big day? The next step will be very practical to avoid restaurants...

3. Prepare in large quantities

By cooking in large quantities, you prepare meals for several evenings of the week and save time and money. You no longer need to think about dinners in a hurry during the week and you also eliminate your temptations to go to restaurants, because you will always have something on hand. For example, by cooking twice as much food for your dinner, you can use the leftovers for lunches the next day.

Are you roasting chicken? Roast two to use your oven even more efficiently. Not only will you have leftovers for another meal, but you can also freeze some.

4. Opt for frozen foods

Frozen foods are just as nutritious, or even more nutritious, than fresh foods. Freezing is an industrial technique that allows products to be quickly cooled by exposing them to temperatures of up to -50°C. This cooling technique creates fine ice crystals which do not damage the flesh of the meat and which, in addition to extending the shelf life of the products, allows the nutritional properties, flavors and textures of the food to be retained. .

In short, food stored in the freezer lasts for several months, can be purchased in large quantities and allows you to always have a quick and easy dinner option. By opting for frozen foods, you are taking care of the health of your body and your finances. To find out more about frozen foods, refer to our article !

To conclude, eating local is better for your health, for the local economy, and does not require emptying your pockets. Of course, since local products are quality products, you have to pay for this quality. On the other hand, the advice mentioned allows you to buy local products at an affordable price. With a little organization, you can change your diet for the better and for the money!

You can visit our “ online store ” section to discover our frozen products from local and responsible farms.