Take the 50% Pledge!

Spend at least 50% of your food dollars on direct purchases from local farmers and artisans; with the remainder of your food dollars, you can celebrate how small the world has become!

This commitment to supporting local farms crowns the 20th year of the ongoing crusade by the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) to disseminate accurate information on diet and health.

There is every reason to take the 50% Pledge, a campaign of WAPF to have its members spend at least half their food dollar purchasing food from local farmers and artisans.

By taking and making good on the pledge, you will be improving your own health and the health of your families. The highest quality food is mostly found from small farmers and artisans in the local food system. The likelihood is that you will be spending less money on doctors and medication. If you are currently spending little or nothing on medical services taking the 50% pledge is a great way to maintain that lifestyle.

Taking the pledge contributes towards small farm prosperity and increases the chances of your local food source remaining in business. There are still too many one-size-fits-all food safety regulations that squeeze regenerative family farms; they need all the business they can take on. The quality of the industrial food supply continues to deteriorate; by helping to keep quality local producers in business  through your patronage, you will be better able to avoid health-robbing foods in the industrial system. The medical system currently accounts for 17% of our gross national product (GNP); reducing demand for medical services leads to a more productive use of resources. Small farmers are the true frontline healers in our healthcare system.

Taking the pledge will benefit the local economy by keeping more of your food dollar in the community. In many states, less than 10% of the food residents consume is produced in that state. The industrialization of agriculture has drained rural America.

Stronger local food systems lead to better food safety. At an international food safety conference in July 2019, a high-ranking FDA official stated that traceability was the Achilles heel of the food system; nothing is more traceable than food locally produced and consumed.

A country’s ability to be self-sufficient in quality food production is its first line of national defense. A strong small-farm sector marketing most of its production direct to the final consumer is the path towards making that happen.

There are other steps you can take beyond the 50% Pledge; you can pass word of the campaign on to non-WAPF members and convince them to take the pledge. Educate them on how important it is for their own health and the health of their families to have a prosperous local food system. The enemy is convenience; explain to them why it’s worth it to go the extra mile and purchase direct from local farms and artisans.

WAPF has created postcards explaining the 50% Pledge that are free for the asking to make people think more about where they are spending their food dollar. Request a free set of postcards through the online store at westonaprice.org or email a request postcards to info@westonaprice.org or call 703-820-3333.

The conventional food system is changing rapidly. The expansion of home delivery systems for industrial food, the growth of industrial organic, and the targeting of the traditional livestock business through plant-based and cell-cultured “meat” and “dairy” products threaten to weaken local food systems. Mass participation in the 50% Pledge campaign is a way to stem the threat, creating more demand for the raw dairy products, meat, poultry, eggs, produce and other nutrient-dense foods that small farmers and local artisans produce.

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