"Locally grown" has become a catchphrase for healthy and environmentally friendly foodstuffs. It's a concept that has made many Americans scan their supermarkets' shelves for signs that the foods they buy have been raised nearby.
But are locally grown foods necessarily better for you?
That depends, dietitians say. Some foods grown locally will be much healthier; others, not so much.
The main message of the locally grown movement is by and large a very healthy one for people to heed, said Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietitian in Chicago and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.
"Most of what the locally grown movement is about is not eating processed foods from large companies, but rather eating more natural, unprocessed, wholesome foods," she said. "A local apple may or may not be any better than an apple grown farther away, but it is most definitely better than an apple-flavored product you get from a package."
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