Everywhere you go, food is promoted as “local.” Even giant supermarkets push their “local” products. What's the big deal here?

According to the USDA 2012 Census of Agriculture, between 2007 and 2012, there was an 8 per cent increase in sales of direct-to-consumer farm products and a 6 per cent increase in the number of farms making those sales. That means that demand for products directly from the farm—local food—has increased, and farms are responding.