Discussions
Do You Support The Buy Local, Organic, Fair Made, Fair Trade Movement?
Posted by tcinvestor • 7/22/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: buy local, community action, fair made products, fair trade, food, health, organic, shopping, sustainable living
Do you buy your food and clothing from local sources? What else do you buy locally? Do you know where to get good resources to know how to support your local community & this movement? Do you want to save some money & support a good cause?
If you want more info. and great resource sites to participate, save money, support local producers, growers and businesses, then check out my new blog post. I list 12 sites to help you out.
livesmartbook.blogspot.com/2009/07/make-difference-buy-local-organic-fair_2...
livesmartbook.blogspot.com
Leave your comments and let me know if you care about this at all and if you actually support by buying local. Thanks
User Comments
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Absolutely - and why not, as far as food goes fresh is best and without sounding like a greenie, organic tastes better.
And as far as clothing, well its not rocket science to me - obviously its designed to suit the climate and trends of where ever it is you're living-
Darn right it tastes better and better for you too.
BTW- here is a fact ( excerpt from my book )
Conventional farming does not adhere to the fundamental standards of food production that nature intended. A key note about conventional farms is that they use pesticides and often over use fertilizers such as the case with genetically modified corn production. Pesticides have been linked to the following: abdominal pains, dizziness, headaches, pains, respiratory problems, skin problems, eye problems, miscarriages, birth defects, cancer, hyperactivity, behavior disorders, learning disability, developmental delays and neurological deficits. About 77% of all conventionally produced foods contain synthetic pesticide residue whereas only 20+ % of organically produced foods do. A study conducted by the National Research Council stated that the majority of exposure of infants and children to pesticides is through diet. A recent study in 2006 showed that levels of synthetic pesticide dramatically and immediately reduced when they (children, infants) were taken off conventional foods and placed on organic food. What more do I need to say?
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I buy locally made clothes...that more native looking(ethnic) the better. I used to be fond of batik shirts.As for food, we have a little garden so it's either i buy at the market or just pluck them up fresh-
That's great..we have a garden as well. Can't beat picking your own food. It just tastes a whole lot better & of course better for you.
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we have extremely sandy soil here...beach sand.
It is difficult to get veggies to grow (tried that last year...not a good result). But when I lived in California I used to keep a good sized garden plus container plants.
I grew corn, peas, beans, carrots, tomatoes, beets, melons, cukes, radishes, lettuces and herbs. I also had fruit trees: plums, peaches, cherries, mulberries,lemons, grapefruit and navel oranges. Last year I tried corn, tomatoes and carrots and got nothing of value...lots of green, little food. My bay tree is doing well, however, as are the container herbs I am growing (the basil is HUGE!).
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Not really. I'm currently writing a bill to amend Washington State's Growth Management Act so it no longer covers farming land as protected. There's a slight compromise though: we'll tax the sale of farmland to buy back farms in Ecologically sensitive areas and restore them to a state of nature.
I support small business though, I just don't approve of stifling industrial expansion to preserve lands that aren't meaningfully undeveloped and wild.-
Good luck with that. What do you think about large agribusiness such as Monsanto corrupting small farms with GMO cross pollination then suing the small farmer for copyright infringement even though the farmer is growing non GMO crops & his crops were corrupted by the GMO crop? This is killing healthier food production, ruining and destroying small business often putting them out of business. Not to mention that those farming techniques are more energy intensive using more oil plus making the land less fertile and increasing toxins in the environment. See this link: www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.cfm
You seem to be trying to keep a balance so all the best.
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- Yes! to all of your questions.
FWIW I'm a Canadian and advocate everything you have listed.
I also have a post on my blog that you may be interested in. It contains 12 points that demonstrate how shopping local benefits communities.
I love shopping local
thistimethisspace.com/2008/11/21/i-love-shopping-local/
Best wishes with your book sales. I hope it flies of the shelves as more and more people recognize the importance of protecting and preserving our environment for future generations, and how to benefit their families and their own communities in the here and now.-
Thank you TT. Appreciate that.
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Thanks for the responses everyone... I am getting ready to head out and check out the movie Food Inc. with my wife tonight. Have a good one.
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When available and of good quality and reasonable price.
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Most of my food is local. Farmers markets tend to be expensive so I keep my own garden, and I'll never turn down local fresh butchered livestock for the supermarket stuff. -
I am supporting best quality products with an affordable price. About those "made in" issue.. I left it just behind my own backyard.. -
Well! To support local businesses, we have been building the best of the best local coupon publishing system at www.SmartLocalShoppers.com.
We recently start building the largest local coupon network in North America at local-coupons.blogspot.com
The service is FREE for every local businesses. It also created by stats. So the network can be as large as the entire USA plus other countries.
To support more than just the local retail or small businesses. We would also like to support local musicians, artists, etc. If you have a blog related to helping local, shop local, please contact us. We would like to include your blog as well.
Thank you for the support to local businesses.-
Good luck with this. It looks like it has some potential. I'll help spread the word. Thanks for sharing it.
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I grow,buy from local farmers or Amish, I buy at a local meat market, I will not buy anything that says Made in another counrty unless it is an absolute have to case. I suppost local harvest by advertising for them on my newspaper articles. I also have the no farmers no food on my newspaper article too. I write articles about local farms when they are in season. I do everything to support local that is possible by my family.-
Right On. Glad to hear it. We actually had alot of Amish near where I grew up and they made some great wood items out of wood and great baked goods too. They actually built a cabin for my sister. The thing could withstand a category 5 hurricane.
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Yep ... I care about this and buy local and organic whenever possible. When it comes to produce, things grown in the area just seem to taste better ... and I'm sure that the nutritional content is higher because fruits and veggies that travel across the country or world must, by necessity, be picked before they've reached their nutritional optimum. I'm no expert but it doesn't make sense to me that produce will get to the same nutritional level when it has to ripen on my counter.
I also really like the idea of supporting my neighbors and getting to know the people who grow my food. It's a little hard to shake hands with the huge conglomerates.
Good discussion!
Small Footprints
reducefootprints.blogspot.com-
I agree with you SF and I try to grow my own as well as shop primarily at local food coops, farm markets and direct from farms.
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