Planning ahead?

[Blue502]

Lawd Lyric, you just have'nt researched enough! Most of our awesome local restaurants purchase there wares (beef, cheese, milk, eggs,pork, veggies) LOCALLY!
There is an awesome farm, about 30-40 minutes away that sell all of that!
Seasonal Foods | Natural Local Food | Chattanooga Sustainable Food Shop | Sequatchie Cove Farm
There's your pig for the roast, there's your dairy, etc, etc. Chattanooga Market, which should be opening soon, will supply you with most anything you need!
If you want Vennison sausage, I am POSITIVE most locals who hunt, or even most farms , can tell you whom to get that from.
Breads, cakes, pies? Most ANY local bread companies..Bluff View Bakery :: Bluff View Art District
Niedlov's Breadworks - Chattanooga, Tennessee
cakes, pies , sweets? Here it is, right down the road...Dutch Maid Bakery - Tracy City, TN
plus any of our various local sweet shops.
You want locally made goods? Check out the shops next to the Aquarium. Or try online store Etsy.

Ahh yes, Lyric, welcome to the biggest little city that sells, uses, buys local

As spring draws near, be sure to read the local paper and the local online site for all things produced locally.

[Lyric Lover]

I have just begun inquiring what is available locally, still in the process of moving to TN. The main research I spoke of was for supplies to make my biz 100% American, sorry if I wasn't clear on that.
Seems that most of the info I get is from locals, word-of-mouth referrals, etc. Works for me :-)
I hope to cross most of the bridges when I get there.

[Blue502]

Lyric, If I knew what your supplies needs were I might could help Also, meet a fellow candle maker Umbra Essence - About
this town is LARGE with artisans of all sorts, pottery, crafts, photographers, painters, woodworking, woodcarvers, heck, the city its self even has a pottery studio. When the market starts opening next month, one visit, and you will see. Also, the farmers market for meats, veggies n such is open all year, every Wednesday on Main St. I just remembered that Link 41 just opened, they may do vennison sausage.
I'm sorry, but no, you won't find local processor board makers. I can understand american economy, but we also have to have a fair share of global economy. if it can be made cheaper in China and support 20 people, keep my price down a few hundred dollars, then I am OK with it. A few hundred dollars and 20 people on payroll is fine by me. Those 20 probably get paid what 2 here would. Plus, precious metals are mined cheaper "across the pond". The US doesn't have alot of the precious metals, or alot people here don't want the mined here. We can't have our cake and eat it too.
So, electronics, used in most everything from cars to radios are always going to be foreign made. It is a price we pay. Personally i am not willing to pay hundreds to thousands more for the product to be made here, seriously, the economy sucks for everyone, lol.

[Lyric Lover]

Thanks for all the info Blue502, I'm hoping to get to Chattanooga once we settle in, we'll be about 35 miles from the city, so it will be a real treat :-)

[bbnmom]

Originally Posted by peppermint

I don't understand your post. VW, Toyota, Mercedes, Honda - all have assembly plants in the the U.S. They are, in fact, American made. Do they not count because their countries of origin are Germany & Japan? You know that individual parts on Fords aren't all American-made, right?

Ford to Nearly Double Purchase of China-Made Parts

We live in a global economy whether people like it or not. It's not going away.

I did find an interesting article on cars.com about American made cars: The Cars.com American-Made Index - Cars.com. It blows your theory out of the water. Guess my Toyota is alright after all.

Very well aware of the percentages of imported parts on American made vehichles. I search for the vehichles with the highest percentage of American made parts and assembled right here in the good ole USA. I am just saying I do my best to purchase made in USA products. even quite often ordering clothing on-line from American made clothing stores. It isn't easy and it is not that I never purchase a made in bangledesh or wherever item, I just will buy the product made here if it is sitting side by side of one made in a foriegn country. I loved walmart when they first came into existance. you didn't even have to check the lables....pretty much EVERYTHING they sold was USA made. Not the case anymore.

[jwkilgore]

Originally Posted by Lyric Lover

When we get fully moved in and up and running, I'll have a list of questions to add to this one below..
So what does everyone do when the tourism season ends? Does it end?
Does it all come to a screeching halt and no more Festivals or Craft Faires, etc.. scrape by until Spring?
Do you just walk up to any farmer and ask if they know a good butcher? I like my Center-cut Pork chops THICK so they can be stuffed.
Who makes the Venison Sausage locally?
Where do I buy a pig for a Pig Roast? Yes, you're invited, bring your guitars, etc..haahahaha.
Who is the local Baker? Fresh bread and cake the way YOU want it, not just what's offered on the shelf.
That about covers the Butcher, the Baker.. oh, btw, I'm the Candlestick maker... every town needs one, lol.

Our "tourism season" is generally mid-spring to mid-fall, but while Chattanooga has a decent tourism trade we aren't completely dominated by it. Go to Pensacola on a warmish sunny day in January (light jacket day) and the beach is empty. Go to the Chattanooga waterfront on the same day and you'll find people... just not as many people as you'll find in May. I don't think there are any local Festivals in the winter, but I may be wrong. Quite a few local establishments (mostly restaurants right now) are starting to advertise the fact that they buy local, so maybe a little legwork and help from local stores will help you "scrape by".

Local food: One place to start would be Main Street Farmer's Market website.

Lots of local farmers would be willing to sell you a pig, it's just a matter of finding one. The MSFM site above lists several farms that sell "pork". I buy fresh eggs from a co-worker who also raises cows, and he's always trying to sell me half of a dead cow (no way I could eat that much beef, so I always pass).

Local butchers... none near where I live because the one on East Brainerd closed not long after I moved here. The Fresh Market has one of the best "commercial" meat departments in that area, plus there's also Greenlife for "organic". As for dedicated butchers, I've never shopped there because they're way out of my way but there's Don's Meat Shop up in Hixson and Rusty's Meat Market down in Rossville.

I go home to Mississippi to hunt deer and that's where I get all my venison, so I'm not familiar with a local producer. Link 41 may be able to help out, but I think they only do pork sausage.

I use the Bread Basket out on East Brainerd, but there are several local bakeries scattered around.

[Lyric Lover]

@jwkilgore Thank you so much for all that info, I really do appreciate it.
I am looking forward to exploring the whole area and it always helps to have something to "go on".
Thanks for responding everyone.