I love community farmers markets.

Everywhere I have lived, for at least the last 25 years, I have been a regular at local farmers markets. Lee County alone boasts eight different places you can have this experience — according to the “Buy Local Lee” website — including the one I visit most: Lakes Park on Gladiolus Drive in Fort Myers.

Farmers markets are fun. You get to meet the people growing your food, you can try a new food truck, you log lots of steps on your Fitbit and maybe you can even enjoy live music. You will likely make new friends as you mill around, browsing vendors’ booths. I don’t know what it is about the culture of farmers markets, but it’s more likely you’ll actually meet new people there, among the other shoppers, than you ever will in the canned vegetables section at a supermarket. People just seem more friendly in the casual outdoor setting.

These are the reasons I love farmers markets, but others shop them because they think it’s “greener” to shop there than elsewhere. The argument goes like this: “Buying local” has a smaller carbon footprint than buying food produced elsewhere because buying local reduces pollutants caused by transportation. If your food didn’t travel far, presumably it comes with less environmental guilt than if it was grown far away.

But here’s what you probably don’t know: Whether your food was grown nearby or far away, the difference in its transportation carbon footprint is negligible.

Why? Because transporting your food doesn’t contribute to global greenhouse gases as much as other stages along the food supply chain. In fact, most estimates suggest that the greenhouse gases created by food transportation amount to just 5%-11% of your food’s total carbon footprint. Instead, it’s which foods you are choosing — not where they were produced — that matter most. Yet good-hearted consumers continue to believe that “buying local” is saving the planet. According to a 2022 survey by Purdue University, most people believe that local food is better for the environment than the alternative.

If you want to reduce your diet’s carbon footprint, you’d be much better off focusing on foods that generate the most greenhouse gases during production, not transportation. Most greenhouse gases from food production come from either changes in land use or the production processes on the farm. Land use changes include things such as deforestation; and production-generated sources include methane gas from cows (aka “cow farts”) and fertilizers. And the foods that do the most damage are beef (remember the cow farts?) and dairy (also cow farts), as well as coffee, chocolate and farmed shrimp.

In contrast, foods with tiny carbon footprints include citrus, apples, nuts, peas and tomatoes. In fact, according to Our World in Data, carbon dioxide emissions from most plant-based foods are 10%-50% lower than most foods that are animal-based.

In short, if you choose to visit the farmers market, do it because you like supporting local farmers or because you enjoy its unique experience. Don’t do it because you think you are making a meaningful dent in greenhouse gas emissions.

And when you visit the farmers market, be a savvy consumer. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services encourages you to ask good questions, such as:

• “Do you grow these yourself? Do you grow all that you sell? If not, is it local or do you buy wholesale? What do you consider local?”
• “Where is your farm located? May I visit your farm? How are your products grown?”
• If organic, “Who certifies your farm or may I see your certification?”

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is going to require hard choices — not ones as easy as shopping your local farmers market. It may give you a “warm glow” of self-satisfaction, but it’s probably not saving the planet.

—Victor V. Claar is an associate professor of economics in the Lutgert College of Business at Florida Gulf Coast University.