buy local challenge

[flowerseverywhere]

All we hear about is how Americans (and europeans) need more well paying jobs. Well I was thinking, what about if everyone tried to search out opportunities to buy local and keep money in your local communities as much as possible. For what you can't buy local, what about your state or geographic area and so on.

for instance
year round we have a farmers market, in the winter you can get cabbage, carrots, potatoes, onions and other root and storage veggies.
a farm within a few miles of me lets you order beef in the spring. They have cows lolling around the field, and will package up what is ordered. No factory beef here. There are apple orchards there as well.
We have a dairy locally that lists on their webpage the farms they buy from, long term family owned farms. I can get their milk, cheese, sour cream etc. The milk comes in glass bottles that you return for a refill.
We have another cheese factory (hellavagood) within 100 miles of my house.
Seneca also has a big factory near me and their webpage states " The vast majority of supplies for Seneca products are sourced and produced in the United States of America. ". since they are located in the middle of apple and peach orchards and berry farms I would feel comfortable getting fruit products from them.
We have several small local owned restaurants. They don't have commercials like the big chains with sizzling steaks and laughing people having the time of their lives- they simply employ local people to cook and serve and are family owned.

So, what ideas do you have for bringing your spending back in your community? The more we all do this (even if it costs a little more) the better position we will be in when fuel prices go up or as we continue to experience conflicts with our trading partners. Plus we will help the local economy employ local people which is a win win situation.

[razz]

Our community sounds very similar to yours, flowerseverywhere. We are now called Ontario's Garden in promotions which is a big switch from being the tobacco growing area. http://www.norfolkcounty.ca/wp-content/guides/recipes/index.html I have tried the cheese dip, the coq au vin and the crow's nest apple dish which were quite tasty.

We do shop at local orchards and market gardeners to supplement our own garden produce, have a good number of local butchers where we can see the animals in the fields, local dairies and eggs and a good number of wineries as well. I have found that it is more efficient and cost-effective for me to buy a large batch locally and process for winter than to grow a large variety of garden crops where I have only small amounts ready at the same time.

DD2 does not have the same access despite being close to a large urban centre. It is harder for her to buy local or know where her food comes from as a result. This is the problem for many, I believe.

DD2 knows the names of farms in our area and buys in bulk when the local grocery chain stocks their seasonal produce in large crates with the farm name posted and she freezes or cans for the family's winter supply.

There are few services or goods that are not locally available and competitive so we rarely shop elsewhere.