Why We Should Buy Local Products Meaning

The next time you have the option of purchasing a locally produced good over something outside your region, consider those who are ultimately benefiting from your purchase. When you embrace local businesses, you are keeping money within your own community. If you were to buy foreign or non-local goods, you are not only hurting a local seller, you are also hurting yourself. The money which you sent out of your area by purchasing that foreign product will likely never circulate through your community creating jobs, roads, schools, and countless other beneficial elements.

These days, it's not uncommon to see "Buy Local" decals on cars, trucks, surfboards, and restaurant doors. The reason behind this advertising is to encourage customers to think about buying local when they are out and about in their communities. The "Buy Local" phrase is really just asking people to embrace the bounty that their own areas and communities have to offer. These offerings can include: produce grown locally and sold at markets, seafood caught in our country's waterways, or the products made by businesses in and around different communities. Local businesses often survive solely off the profits they receive from their neighbors and community members.

Here are some important facts you should know about buying local:

 77 million Americans are employed by small businesses.

Independent retailers return more than three times as much money per dollar of sales than chain competitors. Independent restaurants return more than two times as much money per dollar of sales than national restaurant chains.

Residential neighborhoods served by a successful independent business district gained, on average, 50% more in home values than their citywide markets.

If just half the U.S. employed population spent $50 each month in locally owned independent businesses, it would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue.

Many people who will read this or see "Buy Local" stickers may often think to themselves, "but I can't buy some products locally." This is true. There are many things which cannot be produced or grown locally within communities across the nation. 

For example, some foods grown in San Diego, California may not grow well in Atlanta, Georgia or even as close as Los Angeles. Every geographic region, every state, every city has something different and unique to offer. The buying local movement isn't trying to make all communities self-sufficient overnight; it is simply trying to shift the balance back, putting money back in you and your community's pocket.