11 things to shop for locally… and why you should

I consider myself to be a fairly frugal person. I check online coupons any time I’m shopping, and write “watch for sales” on my grocery list whenever we’re running low on something but don’t need it immediately. Even when my kids were little they knew to look for the “yellow tags” at the grocery store (marking sale items).

There is definitely a time and place for frugality, but lately I’m finding myself cutting corners even more in some areas of my life to make financial room in others.

I’m learning the importance of shopping local.

It started a few years ago when I first experienced “real” coffee. Friends and family members would freshly grind their beans that came from a local roaster, and the cuppa they created made me decide to never go back to a can of Folgers (after using up said can of course, because I’m not wasteful 😉 ).

Just this week I made my monthly stop to our local coffee roaster. I almost asked for the same thing I get every time, but looking at the long list of available roasts and blends made me feel like trying something new. I told the roaster what we usually liked, and how I was thinking of getting something a little bit darker, but not as dark as another we’d tried. He proceeded to point out half a dozen other blends and described them all. I picked one, and made a mental note to try the others another time.

You can’t get that kind of service when choosing your cans or bags off the grocery store shelf.

Is it more expensive to shop this way? Yup. Many of the items we buy at big box stores are subsidized by the government, so the local producers who sell directly to the consumer have to price their items at what they actually cost to create, in order to make a living.

But shopping local means you receive a higher quality product (because it’s not mass produced and shipped miles and miles), plus it supports your local economy.

The local people who grow and produce and create are the friends and relatives of your own friends and relatives and your kids’ friends and relatives. They’re real people who live down the street from you, and have mortgages to pay and furnaces to fix and shoes to buy for their own kids. They’re choosing to use their gifts and skills and time to offer a service to you.

Wouldn’t it be great to live 150 years ago, where we all just grow as much food as we can and knit our own wool socks and shop at the local mercantile for the things we can’t produce ourselves??

Well… as much as I love reading books about that era, I have to draw the line somewhere. And this is where one of my favorite life mottos — all or something — comes in to play.

Something is better than nothing. What is ONE thing you can look for locally instead of at a big box store? See the list below for some ideas. What is ONE local business you can support? Maybe it’s just your small local grocery store instead of Walmart.

Things to look for locally:

• Produce – This time of year Farm Markets are plentiful. Or search for a local farm or CSA opportunity. You haven’t truly experienced the joy of food until you’ve eaten a strawberry that was picked the same day you bought it.
• Meat – If you don’t have freezer space for a side of beef or half of a pig, visit a local butcher that sells right from a counter in their shop.
• Eggs – Before getting our own chickens, it took me awhile to get over the sticker shock of fresh eggs. Why buy them at $4 a dozen when the grocery store has them for $1.50 or less? Again… quality and local economy.
• Dairy – This is an area I haven’t personally tried (#allorsomething). There are laws and restrictions in some states about raw milk sales, and we go through so much cheese in our house… But it’s on my radar to look into in the future. (update: we now participate in a raw milk herd share through an Amish farm!)
• Coffee & tea – See my story above.
• Flour, spices, baking supplies – I recently learned there is a flour mill less than 30 miles from me. Who knew? And if you can’t find the products themselves made locally, most will list somewhere on their packaging where it was packed or ground or produced. Maybe you can find something that was put together only one state away instead of across the country. Or can you try growing your own oregano and basil?
• Honey & maple syrup – The real, local stuff is always the best. Just sayin’.
• Soap, lotion, cleaning products – This might take a little searching of artisan markets, Facebook, and just word-of-mouth, but many people are getting into these sorts of crafts. Don’t be afraid to shop around and try products from a variety of people until you find your holy grail.
• Lumber & hardware – Do you have plans to build a new deck, fence, or chicken coop? Before placing your order at a big box home improvement store, check to see if you have a local lumber store nearby.
• Clothing & shoes – This one is a little trickier to truly find locally. Maybe you’ll be lucky and discover your favorite brand of sandals is actually manufactured in your hometown and employs some of the people you went to high school with. 🙂 But for most of us, the best we can do is look for items made in your home country, plus I think second-hand and thrift shopping is typically the way to go here.
• Books – While books are also not often truly made locally, independent bookstores need our support more than Amazon.

Again, something is better than nothing. Find ONE item to switch this year, and when shopping locally for that thing becomes a habit, look into the next thing. Utilize Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and your local Buy Nothing group to find other things cheap and used, so you have more funds to put toward other things.

Our local economies need us more than ever right now. I don’t see Target or Home Depot closing their doors anytime soon, but what about that mom & pop shop that employs your child’s friend’s mother? …

What is something you’re inspired to search out locally?