Local Thanksgiving
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009Good news first: my dear father, who has been mentioned from time to time on pin-the-tail, is through the woods with a surgery and results to examine his cancer. He continues his 22 year battle to successfully keep his cancer at bay!
I was asked to contribute a little somethin’ to an online source of information about buying local. I’ve blogged about this often…regular readers may recall a while back when I wrote about the 10% Solution in an entry titled, “Take This Job and Ship It” that discusses corporate greed and, more positively, the positive effects of your dollars being spent locally. There is a wonderful video about the Multiplier Effect if you revisit the entry…
Have a beautiful Thanksgiving Day.
Here’s the piece I’ve submitted for the webpage about buying local, link to come soon:
Studies show that $100 spent locally benefit the local economy 3 ½ times more than if you spend the same dollars at a chain store. Why? Because for every dollar spent locally, 45 cents is reinvested in local business. For every dollar spent at a corporate chain, only 15 cents is reinvested locally. That’s pretty cut and dry information but it’s pretty striking.
More wonderful than the simple fact that buying local infuses our local economy with exponentially delightful results, is that there is poetry in choosing to explore local goods, ingredients, and in getting to know and learning from the sensibilities of the proprietors of small businesses.
Who else is going to recommend the Richard Swift CD that makes you shake your ass? Who else will grow and love the glorious 25 pound turkey that is going to dazzle the Thanksgiving guests? Who carries the sexy gloves that your husband is directed to on Christmas Eve? Where else is the cheeky vintage dress with beatnik cats print flirting all over it? Landlocked, Schact Farm, Relish, Cactus Flower…
Hopefully you’ve shared memorable times when savoring a Piper’s Pyramid from Capriole, or crunching a locally grown, Asian pear or drenching waffles with some Sugarbush maple syrup? And you’ve caught a show of live local music, maybe picking up a fuzzy felt covered Uno Moss CD, sipped some tongue twistingly described local brew after a scrumptious slice of hot, hot pizza-from-one-of-so-many-to-choose-from-crazy-delicious-local pizzarias?
I found my way to the Indiana Sweet Shop in 1984 shortly after arriving in Bloomington. This inspired a long love affair with local originality (come on, there was a zebra print linoleum floor!) and flavors, and hard working shopkeepers, ever since. Life is good with local. Don’t let your dollars send your love and passion out of town.
scene from the Village Deli where I was once gainfully employed, now looking forward to many more cheerful outings there with my two dear fellas!