Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Some friend and myself had this conversation this morning because of where we live, people here to tend say they buy local but in all reality they are not. Most of no concept of what that even means. It's more of a trend around here to say that you support local
What does that mean exactly? Does it mean buying from your local store? Farmers market?
We live about 30 mins from Asheville, NC which people here tend to buy local and support local business.
These days nothing really seems to be local, I'm not sure you can count your store down the street as local anymore. Nothing you buy is local it's all from some where else these days. We are in the process of having our own garden for veggies and some fruits.
We have a local farm down the road that we buy our meats from as well. Buying REAL local foods/goods can be more expensive in the end but for us we feel that it's worth it. I will admit there are some things you can't buy that are not local, and it can't be helped.
When visiting states for a possible retirement relocation, I went to a Farmers Market on the town square..........It was highly touted in the Chamber of Commerce brochure as " locally grown fruits and vegetables"
As I meandered around I struck up a conversation with a guy who had the largest stand and was doing the most business.
I found out most of his produce was from about 700 miles away.
Hardly a thing he was selling was from even that state.
He was what is known as a "jockey"..........( someone who buys and then re-sells )
A kick in the face to the actual local growers who were manning their small stands.
I spent enough time in the midwest to get this. I always had my favorite farm stands and stopped often on the way home from work. I miss them. Now I live in Nevada where there isn't much local to buy at any price. What they call a farmer's market here is usually tired looking produce trucked in from California. Very little grows here.
Well, we buy beef from the farmer who raises the steer and he lives about twelve miles away. We trap feral pigs digging up his mom's garden so pork is about from twelve miles away, too. The local vegetable stand gets the lettuce and tomatoes we buy from Waimea, so that's about fifteen miles away. I think they get their carrots from Costco, though. My friend brings me goat cheese, that's from about six miles away, my other friend has eggs, she's about five miles away. Milk is from this island, same with honey. Tea is from the bushes in the yard, my friend grows the coffee. We've just planted a garden so more veggies will be from even closer.
There's some cotton growing in the garden, I hope to make a shirt perhaps. We also have friends with sheep who give me fleeces, and that's spun up into really fat yarn and made into rugs so our rugs are local as well.
We grow alfalfa sprouts on the windowsill, although I'm not sure where the seed comes from, we buy that at the health food store.
We still get a lot of stuff from far away, but we do try to buy from the folks who produced it whenever possible.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,563 posts, read 81,131,933 times
Reputation: 57767
We visit the local farmer's market every Saturday May-September, when it's open. The produce comes from Yakima Valley, picked early that morning and brought in right away, about 2 hours away. The other booths are local sources for baked goods, crafts and other goods.
I highly recommend watching a little program called "Eating Alabama" It is available on youtube for a couple bucks. It is the video documentary of a young couple attempting to eat local - only foods grown in Alabama. I think it is probably the most unbiased examination of the whole concept of eating local and sustainable local agriculture and eating within the seasons that I have seen or read.
Having had a large garden of my own for a few years, having seen how people attempting to make a living on sustainable local agriculture struggle, having memories of my own grandparents and their dances with agriculture, this was finally an examination of the subject that I could watch and say "Yes. This is the reality."
An insane amount of material online, in magazines, and elsewhere promotes the idea of buying local. However, if you dig a little, much of it falls into two classes, those who are following dreams that have little reality, and those making money off those following those dreams. Balance is missing in all of that, which is why I find the video so refreshing. In a way, it is about the couple exploring and growing up to find an intelligent mix of what works, what doesn't work, and why.
We have a farmer's market a few miles down the road. About 1/4 of what they sell is grown right beside the building. The other ¾ comes from within the state, so that's local as far as I'm concerned.
We also have a large garden ourselves, and we save the seeds from the heritage plants for the next growing season. Don't know where the original seeds originated, but all subsequent seeds are extremely local...
Some friend and myself had this conversation this morning because of where we live, people here to tend say they buy local but in all reality they are not. Most of no concept of what that even means. It's more of a trend around here to say that you support local
What does that mean exactly? Does it mean buying from your local store? Farmers market?
We live about 30 mins from Asheville, NC which people here tend to buy local and support local business.
These days nothing really seems to be local, I'm not sure you can count your store down the street as local anymore. Nothing you buy is local it's all from some where else these days. We are in the process of having our own garden for veggies and some fruits.
We have a local farm down the road that we buy our meats from as well. Buying REAL local foods/goods can be more expensive in the end but for us we feel that it's worth it. I will admit there are some things you can't buy that are not local, and it can't be helped.
There are two aspects to buying local which is likely where the confusion (and I do not believe people are lying) comes from. First, to support local business people. Second, to buy items local so as to lower their footprint with regards to transportation.
I try to be mindful about supporting local businesses and buying locally grown produced where possible. I am sure I do not do it well enough to meet the standards of someone who feels judgmental enough about the topic to warrant an entire thread.
We grow our own vegetables, and can or freeze many of the extras that don't go to he local food bank. In the summer we grow about 1/2 of the vegetables we eat, in the winter that drops to less than a quarter. We only grow blueberries and strawberries so any other fruits come from the store. I try to buy items in season in the US. Additionally being in NJ means we actually have really good access to locally grown fruits and veggies.
For other items, it varies wildly where I get items. It is really hard to find good sneakers made in the country let alone locally but I always grab some of the locally made boots from LLbean when we are in New England. Clothes are hard too, but there are some decent options for t shirts and jeans at least. My good clothes are all from overseas.
When I have to run out for things around the house I try to visit the local hardware store instead of the big box stores. Even if the items are not local, the money will stay more local.
I buy from the farmer's markets (Downtown on Saturdays and a smaller one on Tuesdays) during the spring and summer. I also shop at the small, locally businesses and go to locally-own restaurants, as much as I can. I don't eat out that much because it's expensive, but my goal for this summer is to have breakfasts at 7 - 9 local places over the course of the summer.
No effort here, when locally grown produce is available, at a reasonable price, you bet. However we have cold winters and not very much farming.
In the future maybe hydroponic farms will be created out of old buildings.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
