Local or Not

Over the last 8 years or so, there has been a big push in the United States to buy locally grown foods. Each locale gives its locally grown produce a different flavor. Say for instance you're growing Beef Steak tomatoes in Indiana. Your Beef Steak tomatoes will taste different than those same Beef Steak tomatoes grown in Texas, Arizona, Montana,and California, just to name a few examples. So each area in the U.S. due climate and soil conditions will give produce a distinct flavor different from others.

But what about tea? Yes, tea will also have distinct and different tastes due to where it is grown and of course soil conditions etc.

It is great purchasing locally grown foods. We too buy locally grown foods, but not all things can be grown locally. There have been several occasions at Farmers Markets where we get the question, “Is this tea grown in Michigan? You see I only buy locally grown things.” I love this response, because as an educator, this is a teachable moment.

The teacher hat goes on and I explain that due to our climate, there are only two places at this moment that I know of in the U.S. that grow tea. One spot is on the Hawaiian Islands and other on an island in South Carolina. People's usual response is, “Oh, wow, I didn't know that.” and then we talk more about tea, such as, where and how it is grown.

Speaking about U.S. tea, I'm hoping to purchase some tea grown in Hawaii in the next few months. I'm really quite excited to try some when we head out on a trip in the near future. I'm sure it will live up to our expectations. 

So yes, it's good to buy local produce. Just remember not everything you consume can be grown locally. Sometimes, you just have to branch out a bit and try something from somewhere else.

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