As the salmonella-tainted tomato outbreak continues to spread, small and local farm advocates say their produce is a safer bet. But experts aren’t so sure.

There have been a number of large news stories out there since this tomato scare started concerning whether or not locally grown produce is really any safer. I will concede they don’t intrinsically have to be any safer, that all farmers can makes mistakes or do things poorly. Shit happens.

The big difference between the produce I buy at the grocery store and the produce I buy from the three or four farmers we do business with is if I get sick from a store-bought tomato, we have the situation we have now: the FDA trying to figure out where the bad tomatoes are coming from. If Lin and I get sick from something we bought from our local farmers, we know exactly which farmers to go talk to about it. We know who they are and where they live.

The providence of our produce and meat is directly known. The trail from the field to my mouth is short, direct, and easily followed backwards to its source. I would think this would make the local farmers significantly more careful about putting out good product, seeing as they could and would be held directly responsible for any harm they do is short order. That alone makes it safer in the grander scheme of things to buy local.

The mainstream media can keep writing articles saying it’s all the same, go buy produce anywhere and it won’t be any different. Meanwhile, I will continue to put my cash directly into the hand that picked the produce I am about to eat, knowing full well if I ever had a problem with it, they would be standing there taking responsibility, and I wouldn’t be left wondering where the hell the deadly tomato came from.

Besides, the food goods from the local farmers tastes about ten thousand times better than the stuff in the store. If I am going to risk salmonella, the least the produce can do is taste good going down.