This is kind of a stream of consciousness post. I hope it's not too disjointed.
Buying local. This is a subject that is very important to me. It is also important to the survival of my business and the business of any other entrepreneur.
In this day and age, many Americans do not have an appreciation, or even an understanding, of the local economy. “Cheapest is best” tends to be the motto of the multitudes. This is what I call the Stuffmart [industrial] mindset.
To state it simply, shopping at Stuffmart kills small businesses.
Would it not be better to drink one $8 gallon of milk from a local, honest, trustworthy farmer and keep him in business then drink two $4 gallons of milk, full of rBGH from a statist, small-business-killing corporation?
With Monsoonto monopolizing the corn trade and corporations selling foods chock-full of genetically modified, high-fructose corn syrup, pretty soon US citizens will be hard pressed to buy decent, wholesome food.
We Americans often have our priorities out of line. We spend a good deal more than we ought on entertainment and squeeze the food budget to come up with the difference. One of my friends toured Europe a few years ago with a group researching local food. Many of the people they interviewed claimed that they would be ashamed to pay their farmer less than $5 a dozen for eggs. (Most Americans would riot if they had to pay more than $1.99.) They get that crossing jelly-fish and corn is not a good idea. They value the long term benefits of eating quality produce.
The low prices at Stuffmart are misleading. They are selling produce for less than how much it costs to grow it. How can they do that? Government subsidies...that's right...our tax money.
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Jake is a farmer who raises beef. Dan, the local chicken grower, always buys his beef from Jake. Kyle, the local dairyman buys his chicken from Dan. Kyle's neighbor has a electrical company, Lovelace & Sons, that Jake uses to do all of his wiring jobs in his house, barns, shop, etc. Frankie Lovelace has a fleet of electrical trucks that are serviced by Baits' Garage. Mr. Baits buys his milk from Kyle.
Currency travel goes something like: Lovelace>Mr. Baits>Kyle>Dan>Jake>Lovelace [Ta-da]
Here is how it happens in the US:
Jake is a farmer who raises beef. Jake buys all of his equipment from Mr. King, the local farm equipment dealer....who buys his beef at Stuffmart because it is only $2.99/lb. Stuffmart continues to buy produce from Mexico and undersell the small American farmers and put them out of business. He “can't afford” to buy local beef. Jake goes out of business and no longer buys Mr. Kings equipment. Mr. King takes government subsidies [paid for by Jake, Dan, Kyle, Lovelace, & Baits in various taxes *sad trombone: wah wah wah waaaahhhhhh*]
