Supporting your local business

The Syracuse farmers market. 

Don't know what it means to be a locavore? It's a person who eats local food, shops locally and cares about their community in a deeper sense. Buying locally is probably the most important thing you can do. It is good for your community, the environment and your local economy. 

Shopping at a farmer’s market or a local business may seem “hippie-dippie” and a waste of your time but it actually really important. By shopping at a farmer’s market or a local business you are putting money back into the local economy and helping local businesses grow. Shopping locally is perhaps the most important thing a person can do because for every $100 spent in your local community $45 will stay in the community compared to only $13 when you shop at large chains.

So instead of going to Walmart and paying $10 for Nyquil you can go to your local pharmacy and pay a little more. And you will know that the extra money is going towards a local business. Probably a family business. It could even be your neighbor or friend. When you spend money at Walmart you are giving money to a faceless, nameless corporation that thinks of you as a faceless, nameless customer. But when you shop at your local grocery store down the street, they think of you as a loyal, consistent patron from the area.

         

There are also huge environmental impacts every time you shop. Your food is more well traveled than you. For example your food travels an average of 1,500 miles before it hits your plate. That is called food miles and it has severe environmental impacts. Your fruit is coming Brazil and other South American countries. Your meat, vegetables and dairy are coming from the western United States. To get your food  to your plate it takes countless galleons of gas that will ultimately ruin ecosystems.

         

You can help lower the risks of environmental damages by going to your local grocery store or farmer’s market. Chances are the meat, fruit, vegetables and dairy are from within 200 miles. That's what it means to be a locavore. This goes back to helping the local community. While it’s hard to grow bananas in the climates where I live, we can still buy apples and strawberries from a local farm and help someone’s business. When buying from a farmer’s market it is usually the farmers selling their direct product to you so you know exactly where your money is going.

Also, a local farmer is not likely to use pesticides and preservatives on their crops. While they might have to use an organic pesticide, their food does not have to travel as far and does not have to last as long because it is traveling a shorter distance. Since pesticides are man-made chemicals they can infect the soil and make it unusable for the next year. So not only are pesticides bad for your health but can ruin an entire area of land in a matter of minutes.

        

And lastly, shopping locally helps the local economy. This is how businesses and the community grow and prosper. Yes, people shop at Walmart because it is cheaper and it is more convenient but isn’t a booming, industrious city that you live in convenient too?

         

My dad owns a local business. There is not a person in Syracuse who doesn't know who I am. Or actually, who my last name can connect me to. There wasn’t a day in high school that someone didn’t sing the jingle to my family's store at me and I had to laugh awkwardly at them. There wasn’t a time when I went somewhere with my dad and someone didn't say hi to him.

My favorite music store in Syracuse is a local business and I feel like I know pretty much everyone that works there. I have even met the owner once at an event and know that he lives in Baltimore for most of his time. The store sells CDs and vinyl records of local bands and musicians. When buying local there is more depth and meaning to community. It is more fulfilling and has a greater impact on the bigger picture.

A great local establishment. 

So, I am not saying Walmart and big corporations are evil and should be burned at the stake but I am saying think before you purchase. Where is my money really going? Could I buy this somewhere else that would benefit my community, the environment and the local economy? By shopping locally you connect to your city and create a better future.