MAKE LOCAL HABIT 

 December 10, 2012

This phrase is hanging in a frame on the wall in a very special bakery near where I live.  I love the idea!  It's one of the ways I try to live my life - supporting my neighbors and community.  It's an idea worth thinking and talking about.

What exactly does "make local habit" mean?  To me, it means helping those who live near me to earn their living in ways that are authentic and satisfying.  It means "helping to keep my carbon footprint smaller."

I seek out businesses and people who are offering goods and services that are useful and healthy for my community. I seek out those that are offering something creative and inspiring.  For instance, this particular bakery I'm talking about is located in a wonderful, antique building that is all kinds of quaint and wonderful. They have only a few small tables and ask that people share them - which can be just the nicest way to meet someone new!   They offer some of the most authentic french baked goods I've found anywhere outside of Paris!  And, in fact, a friend from Quebec agrees - assuring me that the croissants there are as delightful as any he's had in his country!

But the baked goods  this bakery offers are just one small reason why I support them.  Another reason is the people who work there.  They are always happy and friendly to everyone, as well as to one another.  Even when they're busy, busy, busy, with too many people squeezed into their intimate little building, there's always a sense of welcome and ease.  No sense of frustration or pressure, even if that might indeed be the case at times.  Instead, guests are made to feel a bit as though they have just stepped into a friend's kitchen!  I get a real sense that these folks appreciate and enjoy the people they bake for and serve....I like feeling that way when I reach into my wallet!  Doesn't everybody enjoy feeling special?  Well, that can happen when we support "local".

Another reason why I love this particular company is that

they support "local folks" themselves.  The coffees they serve, for instance, are roasted by small, local coffee merchants, who, in turn, know the growers where their beans come from!     And then, there is the art that adorns the walls of the bakery.  It's an ever-changing kaleidescope of creative expression from artists who live in my area.  The bakery offers them a way to show their work in a public space where they might make a sale.  Being able to enjoy the many offerings makes time spent there even nicer.

Make local habit.  Pay attention to what you purchase and what your dollars support.  Does it benefit your own community directly?  Are you helping your neighbors?  Are there places near where you live that you can walk or bike to rather than drive - helping to keep your carbon footprint smaller?  

These are questions I ask myself routinely.  I hope that you do too.  

Let's all make local habit!

Buying Produce

We have two farmer's market days here in our town.  I always opt to plan my summer meals around the produce that will be offered then.  For me, it is important to eat food that is as fresh as possible, but also, when it's so easy to do, to purchase my food directly from the farm that grew it.  I am grateful to have the opportunity to meet people right here in my community or nearby, who actually put the seeds into the Earth; then watered them and watched over them until the day when those plants - my food - were mature enough to be brought to the market for sale.  It feels good to me to know that my dollars help another family to live.  Their food feeds me and my dollars feed them.  It's a win/win thing.  Oh, and I forgot to mention, when there's a choice, I ALWAYS spend a little bit more and opt for organic.  The organic farmer isn't just growing better, healthier food for me, but he/she is also supporting the Earth by not using toxic chemicals that pollute the soil and water, and untold numbers of insects and other innocents.

Choose organic; support local; vote with your dollars; embrace sustainability; eat healthfully; love your body and your life, as well as the lives of all others.  That's the Greater Good.