The True Value of Local Food

Grocery prices keep climbing, and for many families, eating well feels harder than it should. But some of the best solutions are right here at home in the soil beneath our feet, in the hands of our local farmers, and in the ways we choose to feed ourselves and our communities.

Photos by Shawn Linehan

Buying from small, sustainable farms keeps money circulating close to home. Every dollar spent at a farmers market or through a CSA share supports local jobs, strengthens regional economies, and helps build a food system that’s more resilient to rising costs.

The value of local food, however, goes far beyond the economy. We know that diets high in vegetables are healthy, but the resulting savings in healthcare costs are staggering. A remarkable study modeled what would happen if health insurance programs subsidized healthy foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, seafood, and plant oils, by 30%. The results were astonishing: over a lifetime, such policies were projected to prevent nearly 2 million cardiovascular events and save $39.7 billion in healthcare costs. Expanding those subsidies to a broader range of healthy foods could prevent more than 3 million cases of heart disease and diabetes and save over $100 billion nationwide. Read the full study here.

Photos by Shawn Linehan

The study found benefits across every demographic group. Even within just five years, the modeled programs were cost-effective, meaning they began saving money almost immediately. Over time, the study projected that these programs could add more than eight million healthy years of life nationwide, meaning people would live longer, healthier lives because of better diets. Put simply, helping people eat more vegetables costs far less and does far more good than many medical procedures. Researchers estimated these programs would add healthy years of life for about one-fourth the cost of typical healthcare interventions.

As lead researcher, Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian put it, these findings support the concept of Food is Medicine  that “programs to encourage and reimburse healthy eating can and should be integrated into the healthcare system.” In other words, access to good food isn’t just a matter of personal health; it’s a public health strategy that saves lives and reduces national healthcare spending.

Photos by Shawn Linehan

Closer to home, we see those same principles at work. Research continues to show the devastating link between people with lower incomes having higher rates of diet-related chronic disease. That is not a personal failing; it’s the result of a food system built unfairly, where access to healthy food depends too often on income, zip code, and other social determinants of health.

Programs like Double Up Food Bucks (DUFB) help change that story by making fresh, local produce more affordable for Oregonians using SNAP benefits. DUFB expands access to real nourishment, and the results are striking. For every $1 invested in DUFB, healthcare costs are estimated to drop by $0.50 to $2.58, thanks to improved diets and reduced rates of chronic disease. In 2022 alone, that translated into $1.47 to $7.57 million in avoided healthcare costs statewide, showing us that good food is good medicine.

When we invest in local farms and equitable food programs, we’re not only improving nutrition, we’re reducing health disparities, keeping money in our communities, and rebuilding a food system rooted in care rather than profit. Supporting local farms isn’t just an act of kindness; it’s an act of resilience and community building. Every CSA share, every bunch of carrots, every shared meal is a vote for a healthier Oregon. Together, we can build a food system that nourishes everyone now and for generations to come.