Buy
Local. Eat Natural. It’s become the new slogan for agriculture in BC. One of
the biggest issues farmers across Canada, and especially in BC are facing is
cross border shopping. The amount of loss BC’s economy faces each year to cross
border shopping is astounding, and the dairy industry in particular, is really
feeling the effects. I know many reading this will say how we should lower our
prices and there are all kinds of complicated answers that I can give as to why
that’s not as viable as most consumers believe, however that isn’t the point of
this post. So, just to touch on a few of the reasons for the price disparity:
we have higher standards and higher quality, cost of production is lower in the
US due to longer growing seasons and warmer climates, the US government
subsidizes dairy farms heavily (therefore, American milk is only cheap for
Canadians, Americans pay for it on their taxes), and finally, the price is
artificially low in the border towns to draw Canadians in, other areas of the
US pay a lot closer to our prices.
Now,
after the little sermon on the evils of cross border shopping, haha, I want to
get to the point of my post. Fair warning, I may be on my soap box just a
little ;). After understanding the cost of cross border shopping, and feeling
some of its effects personally, I began to think about the slogan “Buy Local.
Eat Natural.” Living where we do I am not guilty of cross border shopping, I am, however, guilty of cross community shopping. It’s BC's buy
local week, and as I was thinking about how we as an industry have been
affected by cross border shopping I began to feel convicted about my
“cross-community” shopping. I don’t mean the heading to Askew’s in Armstrong,
or other locally owned small businesses in neighbouring communities, I more
mean the pack up the kids and head to Superstore or Wal-Mart and more recently,
Target for all my needs.
Let
me preface this with a clear disclaimer, I understand that there are some things
that are simply to expensive to be purchased locally (ie diapers, etc.). For
all of us, we have a different evaluation of what is too expensive, and what is
just out of the budget to buy local. I also understand that sometimes it’s just
fun to pack up the family for a day of shopping in the big city of Vernon
(haha) or better yet Kelowna! I personally love checking out Costco, and the
mall and some of the other shops those cities have that we don’t. I understand
that we are not all going to be able to shop local all of the time, for many of
us our budget just won’t allow us. I am not talking about those situations and
instances. What I am talking about is simply not being aware, or thinking
before we buy. Often we drive to Vernon to save a few dollars on a few items,
often this doesn’t even add up to a twenty-dollar savings on our bill. Many
times prices of things we buy in big box stores are only marginally more
expensive in Enderby. I think so often we have become accustomed to shopping
out of town that we forget to even check in our town to see if they have the
item, we just blindly head to Wal-Mart. And, not to get into the ethics of big
business too much, but seriously, they and other stores like them have a pretty
bad track record when it comes to human rights and unethical outsourcing of
labour.
I
don’t want to get into that rabbit trail too much, but I do want to have everyone realize how
much money those stores get from us and how little is returned. When you shop
local that money comes back into our community, when you shop in big box stores
it goes to the pockets of big time CEOs. In our community we have amazing
businesses that have a heart for our community. All of you are benefiting from
these businesses and most of us aren’t grateful enough to shop at them as a
thank you. If you have kids in soccer or baseball it’s local businesses that
pay for your kids’ jerseys. Other ways businesses contribute are through things
like grad, dry grad, field trips, hockey fundraisers, Kids and Company snacks,
and a host of other community programs. I know that Sutherland’s Bakery donates
lunches to the school for the kids whose parents aren’t able to bring a lunch. The
more I learn about our local businesses the more I am amazed at how many
programs are supported by these businesses, and I am even more amazed that they
are still willing to volunteer money and time to our programs. In our economy
it is really hard to be a viable small business, and I believe that each of us
can help our businesses out by thinking about ways to shop local. I know that
it is my generation that is the guiltiest of cross community shopping. We seem
to be insatiable bargain hunters and we are also a “what’s best for me”
generation, unlike our grandparents were. Most of us have never even stopped to
consider what it means to shop local, we have grown up shopping in big box
stores. I want to encourage us to start thinking of ways that we can contribute to our local economy by finding ways that work for us and our budget to shop local. Even small changes in our purchasing habits can make a big difference to those businesses.
In closing, to slightly step off my soap box, I understand that most of us live
on a tight budget and that sometimes price has to matter above all things, but
if we can, when we can, support our local businesses, they in turn will support
us by continuing to donate to the programs we all enjoy. Are you printing Wedding invitations or thank you cards? Consider Pure Graphics (you will get amazing customer service!), need a wind shield replaced? Enderby Autobody, need a party catered? How about the Cliff’s Bistro, or Lynn’s Homestyle Catering?
Going out to eat? What about Hungry Jacks or Mel's Mainstreet Pizza instead of McDonald’s? Need to buy
toys for your grandkids? Consider I Sher Toys, or jewlerry for your wife? Look at Enderby Jewellers, looking for new boots or a
brand name pair of jeans? Try Tony O’s, need to bring baking to a party?
Sutherland’s glazed donuts are the best! Way better then Tim Horton’s, and they
are made fresh every morning and competitively priced! (I know there are so many more wonderful businesses to check out in Enderby, if I missed one and you want it mentioned, feel free to post it in the comments). If something isn’t
available locally consider shopping at smaller locally owned stores in
neighbouring communities, such as Askew’s in Armstrong, or Sleepy Hollow or BlueMountain nurseries instead of Superstore’s garden center (your flowers will be
healthier and last longer anyways).
Whenever possible, look to shop local, then look to neighbouring
communities for locally owned businesses, still can’t find what you need? How
about supporting a stay at home Mom or other small business on etsy such as:
Hello Love. And then, if you must go out of town further, consider looking
for that which is made in Canada. Sometimes a bargain isn’t a bargain when we
look at the story behind its production.
A lot of the time it just
takes a bit of thinking and awareness to shop local, it doesn’t have to be more
expensive. Every dollar you spend in Enderby stays in Enderby. Not only does it
support your neighbours, your friends, and their families, who own the
businesses, it also supports your kids in their programs and boosts our
community spirit. Without local businesses most of our community programs would
suffer and our community events, such as the light up or Canada day would be
far less colourful!
Buy
Local. Eat Natural.
I
know that I didn’t touch on the Eat Natural portion of the slogan, but that’s
for another post and another soap box, haha.
Stepping
off my soap box now!
This is a graphic I found illustrating how choosing local supports your community:
source: http://locobc.com/buylocal/buy-local-week-2013/loco-infographic-131115-d6/
