LOCAL FOOD...buy it!

"Today supermarkets serve a different role. Five chains control about half the grocery sales in the United States, and the biggest victim of this is the local farmer. As the chains get larger, they purchase from larger and larger processing plants hundreds or thousands of miles away from the communities they serve. As a result, a recent University of Missouri study showed that half a dozen global food chain clusters tied to agribusiness giants dominated the market. Not only were family farmers often cut out of the mix, but the farmers who were left were forced to take bigger and bigger price cuts, making it difficult for them to survive. Today less than 20 cents of every dollar spent at supermarkets for food goes to the farmer.

A study of local businesses vs. chain stores conducted several years ago in several parts of the country found a profound difference in financial benefits to a community. One of the biggest differences was that local independent businesses bought twice as much in local goods and services than did chains and big-box stores. They also kept more of their profits in the local economy and gave more to local charities. A study of small towns in Maine demonstrated that even a small shift toward locally owned businesses could create the economic boost equivalent to attracting a major factory or another large employer. Just think of the difference your food budget could make if you shifted just 5 percent of your dollars to locally owned stores.

Futurists and earth scientists who study resource depletion believe that, at the current rate of human population growth and the steady decline of animals, plants, ocean life, minerals and oil, we would need seven planet Earths to sustain us through the end of the century. Since it’s unlikely we will be able to discover and exploit seven additional habitable planets in that time, it may make sense for us to evaluate our current trajectory of “endless growth” and consider changing course"

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