I read an interesting article yesterday about shopping locally, something that's increasingly becoming a passion of mine. There's a new term for people who make an effort to buy and eat foods that are raised or grown locally: it's "locavore." Pretty cool, right? Buy why not stay local with other things we buy as well? According to the article I read, there are several great reasons for buying locally. 1) it reduces the need for shipping, which reduces pollution (did you know that second only to automobiles, the second greatest expenditure of gas is shipping out of season produce to stores?) 2) it supports the local economy. According to Stacy Mitchell, author of Big-Box Swindle and researcher with the Institute or Local Self-Reliance, a study they did found that for every $100 spent in a chain store, $14 went back to the local economy. For a locally owned business, $45 went back into the local economy! Now, I know it's impossible to get everything we consume from local stores (I'm mean, diapers and toilet paper seem to be almost a must-buy from Cost-Co!) But the important point of her article, which I agree with, is to think first about buying locally and use the big chain stores for items you can't find other places.Unfortunately, when I looked online there were hardly any resources for us here in Indiana, let alone for us specifically here on the Northside, about shopping locally. So, I actually have an idea in the works about creating a website with all kinds of links for local shopping in "Up-town" (Noblesville, Westfield, Fishers & Carmel)! But that will take awhile; so until then, here's a few links that you might find interesting!
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Sites on Eating Locally:
"10 Steps to Becoming a Locavore"
"Farm Fresh Delivery" - home delivery of organic produce and natural groceries
"Eat Wild" - a directory of pastured products
"Local Harvest" - find produce and meat & dairy farms near you
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A few of the farms around our area:
"Trader's Point Creamery" - dairy farm in Zionsville
"Skillington Farms, Inc." - meat farm between Westfield and Lebanon
"Apple Family Farm" - a meat, dairy and produce farm in McCordsville
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Places to find Local Produce:
Noblesville, Westfield, Carmel, Fishers and Downtown Indy all have Farmer's Markets (I'll provide more info when it's closer to Spring!)
Broccoli Bill's - 15009 Gray Rd., Noblesville
Gatewood Vegetable Farms - 9555 E. 206th St., Noblesville
Spencer's U-Pick - 7177 E. 161st St., Noblesville
Stuckey Farms - 19975 County Line Rd., Sheridan
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Shopping Locally for Non-Food Items:
"Freecycling" - a site where people in your area can trade goods for free!
"Etsy" - a place to buy and sell all things handmade; in the left hand column you can click on "Shop Local" to buy handmade items near you!
