Why Local?
Buying local improves the strength of your local community and, through economic circulation, your own life.
Below are some relevant articles and datasets that we've found helpful.
Food Quality & Freshness: Food quality and freshness improves dramatically when it is local. The food doesn’t have to travel thousands of miles, get stored in a facility, then get put on a shelf until someone buys it. Instead it is instead picked and made to order, improving both the quality and cost (ie. transportation, handling, storage)
Economic Returns: These studies find that local businesses recirculate a greater share of every dollar in the local economy, as they create locally owned supply chains and invest in their employees.
- “Independent BC: Small Business and the British Columbia Economy” [PDF]. Civic Economics, Feb. 2013.
- "Now is the time to build sustainable food system resilience" [Article]. Canadian Commission for UNESCO and UNESCO Chair on Food, Biodiversity, and Sustainability Studies, Jul. 2020.
- PDF Download - Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development
Jobs: These studies show that locally owned businesses employ more people per unit of sales, and retain more employees during economic downturns, while big-box retailers decrease the number of retail jobs in a region.
- "The Workforce Multiplier Effect of Local Farms and Food Processors in Northwestern Ontario" [PDF]. Food Securit Research Network, Feb. 2013.
- "The Contribution of Large and Small Employers to Job Creation in Times of High and Low Unemployment" [PDF]. American Economic Review, 2012.
- "The effects of Wal-Mart on local labor markets" [PDF]. Journal of Urban Economics, 2008.
- "JOB CREATION OR DESTRUCTION? LABOR MARKET EFFECTS OF WAL-MART EXPANSION" [PDF]. Review of Economics and Statistics, 2005.