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economy? Do you want to do so
easily? You can. Simply buy local.
-- since tribal hunters and
pits to enter the wild where beasts of
prey roamed. "Buying local," if not
growing or making it yourself, was
the norm born and bred into the likes
of Laura Ingles Wilder who wrote
of her neighbors in the Little House
on the Prairie stories of the late 19th
century.
order goods. Even mail-order brides.
Then, along came big box stores,
funded by nebulous shareholders
who, very likely, didn't know the
names of and, possibly, couldn't care
less about the health and wealth of
the communities from which their
returns on investment drained ... er,
originated.
enticement from local and state
governments, that gave them an
unfair advantage over local mom-and-
pop establishments. Too often, these
megalithic entities were allowed to
build on virgin farmland or precious
wetlands, extending a community's
requiring expensive infrastructure
investments to be paid by -- yep,
it or not, the trend is toward local.
Books and Kazoo Books II, a pair of
independent, locally owned book-
stores, is president of the recently
founded Buy Local Kalamazoo
organization. Started in the spring
of 2008, this grassroots -- read
"local" -- organization already has
over 40 members. It published its
first directory last fall. The members
are business people who, Tiller says,
"know the pulse of the community
because they live and work here."
owned business is likely to stay
in that community, compared to
dollars spent at chain stores where
some percentage leaves town and
goes into the pockets of corporate
administrative staff, executives, and
shareholders who live and spend
elsewhere.
Speaking at a statewide Farmers
Market Month event in Lansing last
July, the governor stated, "If every
Michigan resident spent just $10 on
farmers markets, it would generate
more than $40 million each and
every week. Those dollars, because
they are spent and received by local
consumers and farmers, are more
likely to stay in Michigan and support
the local economy."
board member of Fair Food Matters,
a Kalamazoo organization created to
build community around local food,
volunteered to be part of a national
buy-local program for food during
2008. For 12 months, Donna and
her family committed themselves to
being locavores, purchasing at least
80 percent of their groceries from
sources within 100 miles of their
home in Kalamazoo County. They
also chose to draw the line at the
state line, keeping their purchases
within Michigan.
food is better and more nutritional
than food that has been transported
and treated with chemicals that
facilitate preservation and enhance
ripening while in transit. And citing
an economic statistic similar to the
governor's, she says, "If one in ten
families spent most of their food
budget on local food, millions of
dollars would be injected into the
local economy each month. This is
significant because of the multiplier
effect."
circulation in which an increase
in spending within a community
produces an increase in income
and purchases greater than the
initial amount spent. A financial
example is that of a company that
builds a factory and hires construc-
tion workers and employees. Those
workers and employees, in turn,