In general, most people know that “buying local” is probably a good thing and they should probably do it.
But why, specifically, is it better?
This blog post explores the reasons that buying local isn’t just a nice idea – its essential for a healthy community and a healthy YOU!
Reason #1: Standing in Line at Walmart Sucks
I bet it hasn’t been more than a week since you stood in line at a big box store to namelessly pay for your goods and walk out to a concrete parking lot full of people you do not know and then drive home.
And I don’t blame you. This has become the standard shopping experience for Americans – anonymous, cheap, and full of cars.
But there is another way to shop that has a lot more history and is much more pleasant.
Yesterday I worked our little booth at the Fall Creek Farmers Market and I experienced it first hand.
There’s music playing, people bring their super cute dogs, you can buy some fresh squeezed lemonade, and there are lively and friendly conversations with others shoppers and the vendors. One of the highlights of the day for me was when a customer and I started talking about soil health and four other shoppers joined in the conversation. It was great! This could never have happened at a big box store. People are there to get their stuff and get out. Sometimes that’s great, but when it’s the only way we do things, a sense of community can be lost.
Anytime I can choose the latter experience over the former – even if it means delaying my shopping until market day – is a win for me! Walmart and other places are convenient, but the experiences there offset that benefit by a lot.
Reason #2: Your Dollars Matter More to Local People
Many times when you read articles about buying local, it will state “the money recirculates in your community”. And that is entirely true. But what does that really mean?
As a person who both buys and sells in the local market, this difference is crucial.
When you buy $30 in vegetables from a large, corporate grocery store, you are lucky if you can even get a real person to check you out at the register. The only thank you you’re likely to get is the one printed on the receipt.
When you spend $30 at a veggie stand in your community (or a local restaurant or a local plant nursery), that is $30 that goes directly to someone in your community. He/she will personally thank you because that $30 really matters. If just ten more people would come to his/her stand each week, that’s an extra $300 per week and, if my math is right, an extra $1200 per month.
$1200 per month can make the difference between that farmer being able to survive economically and having to take a desk job. That money could be the difference between being able to pay for simple things like the mortgage, a decent vehicle, and piano lessons for his/her children. Not having it can also mean that the farmer cannot purchase or do any of those things. It may even mean that he/she is no longer a farmer.
And without a diverse source of people who can provide us with food, our supply chains become incredibly fragile (see Reason #3).
At the end of the day, I often think about it like this. Do I really think that Kroger or HEB care very much if I spend an extra$30 with them? And even if I do, does most of the money end up staying in my community or does it get filtered out to a large corporation?
I know the answer to that and so do you. That local producer depends on me a lot more than the large grocery chain. We “vote” with every dollar we spend. Voting for local over corporate or national can make a very big difference in the stability of our communities.
As a bonus, when that farmer or local business gets your $30, they are very likely to spend it on wages (read: local jobs) or other things that are also local. Then, a portion of that money gets spent locally. And a beautiful, virtuous circle begins. But the local business cannot initiate this cycle itself. It needs YOU, the local community member, to kickstart it for them.
Shifting $30, $60 or even $100 of your grocery budget a week to a local producer can make a massive difference for your local food infrastructure.
And it doesn’t just stop with local food producers. What about your small, local restaurants or coffee houses? How about the local pet store?
If I had written this post even twenty years ago, I could probably list evening more. But sadly, I can’t even think of a small, family-owned hardware store anymore. They’ve been replaced.
And if we’re not careful, all of our other local treasures (and entrepreneurs) may be replaced too.
Reason #3: Remember the COVID Food Shortages?
Remember when COVID first struck and there was suddenly no food in the stores and everything was suddenly rationed?
And remember all the little, annoying shortages after that? (HEB near my house ran out of ketchup for over a month!). Even after stores were open at normal times, there were all kinds of things running out and every time you asked why something was missing, the response was “COVID” or “supply chain problems”. This is the concept of that butterfly flapping it’s wings in the Amazon and chaos resulting from it.
We have no control over what happens in Thailand, Brazil, Italy, or anywhere else on the planet. Even in our own country, much of our farm land is owned by Russian and Chinese interests. At any time, they can say “no more” and we’re out of luck.
Without resilient systems and smaller, local supply chains available, we don’t have a Plan B. And that’s a bad spot to be in.
The global supply chain has done AMAZING things in terms of bringing us products that we probably wouldn’t otherwise have. That is one of the reasons it became so immensely popular and is now the dominant economic force.
But it’s not very good at absorbing shocks to its system. And when you’re the consumer and not the producer of things, you lose a lot of control, especially in crisis.
Strengthening the local supply chain is essential to creating resilient distribution systems for the products and services we need.
But you can’t build the system the day you need it! Strong local supply chains take years (and lots of local customers ) to build. And if you’re talking about agriculture and food, small producers need to be supported for years. They need time to build up soil, source seeds (and then start producing their own), possibly restore land, etc. But once they are there, especially in the area of food, you have greater assurance that things will be there when you need them.
If the farmer, the natural soap maker, or the clothing store has a strong customer base NOW, then they will be much stronger when rough times come.
And aside from that, who do you think cares more about getting you a box of groceries when you’re home-bound or there is some other crisis? The big box store? Or, the local guy/gal that you’ve been buying from for the past year?
The answer is obvious. And they’re out there. We just have to find them and support them.
eason #4: The Environment Needs a Break
Carbon emissions are cut drastically when you buy something grown within a few miles of you vs something shipped in from the southern hemisphere. That’s a given.
But there are also important reductions in plastic and packaging that occur. Not just on your final product, but all of the crating and packaging that a particular product created on its journey.
Buying local helps reduce or even eliminate all of that. And it’s so simple to do!
Even if you do not believe that climate change is a real force (but I hope you do!), no one can deny that environmental destruction is real. You can see it right in front of you.
There are enormous “trash islands” floating in the ocean. Atascocita barely has a spot left where trees haven’t been cut down and the top soil stripped. You cannot walk out into a parking lot or sidewalk without finding trash – lots of trash!
But what if there wasn’t as much (or any) trash associated with what you bought?
When you buy produce at a Farmers Market, you can skip all the plastic bags. And there were probably very few, if any, plastic bags or shrink wrap involved in its transportation to you.
These are all things that are important to consider. We can reduce the trash produced in our own homes and before anything gets to our home. It’s a big win!
There are many more reasons to buy local, but I hope these are enough to convince you to at least give it a try. Here in the Atascocita area, there is almost always a Farmers Market you can visit on several days of the week. Off the top of my head, I can think of Fall Creek (Sundays), Eagle Springs (Tuesdays) and Huffman, Kingwood, and The Groves (all on Thursdays). They may not have every food item you wish to buy, but why not at least buy the ones you can from them?
Also, if you are a current customer of Atascocita Microgreens and you receive your order in plastic containers, we would like to encourage you to try our Compostable Packaging Option. It’s just $1 extra per order (not per pack) and we will even pick up the bag and boxes on our next delivery to compost them for you. Our specialized composting worms turn it all back into rich, wonderful soil. The option to upgrade is on our regular “shop” page towards the very bottom.
Thank you for buying local and I hope to see you at a local market, local restaurant or other family-owned business in the area soon!
