The purchase of local food from a neighboring farm provides families with fresh and healthy fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy products, and it preserves valuable farmland and contributes to the local economy. Learn more about the impact of the farm-food connection:

1,500: The average distance in miles that food consumed in the United States travels before being eaten

75: The percentage of apples purchased in New York City that are imported from the West Coast or overseas, even though New York state produces 10 times the amount of apples consumed by New York City every year

340: The number of farmers’ markets in the United States in 1970

4,385: The number of farmers’ markets in the United States in 2006

1 million: The amount of barrels of oil that could be conserved per week if each U.S. citizen ate one meal a week made from local, organically grown produce

2006: The first year in American history that the value of the food imported into the United States exceeded the value of the food exported from the United States

2.6 million: The number of participants in the federal nutrition program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) who received coupons to purchase fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs in 2006

1946: The year the National School Lunch Act was passed by Congress and signed into law and initiated the federal school lunch program

2 million: Farmland acres permanently protected across the country