Why Shopping Local Matters

Photo by Audrey Knizek

A STRONGER ECONOMY: When people buy from local small businesses, their spending creates around twice as many local jobs as money spent in big chain stores.

A CLOSER COMMUNITY: Shopping at local businesses gives neighbors a chance to connect.

A CLEANER ENVIRONMENT: Having stores in your immediate neighborhood means you can leave your car parked and do your errands on foot or by bicycle. Fewer cars on the road means less traffic, less noise, and less pollution.

BETTER HEALTH: Running errands on foot is better for your health. Walking is great exercise that helps keep your weight under control, strengthens your heart, and prevents disease.

A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE: Local businesses make your town a better, more interesting place to live. Local eateries, bars, bookstores,food markets, pharmacies, and gift shops all combine to give a place its unique character.

On the side...

Tierra Farm is a Certified Organic manufacturer and distributor of nuts and dried fruits, located 20 miles south of Albany, New York. Tierra Farm started as a diversified organic vegetable farm in the Finger Lakes region of New York. The organic nuts and dried fruit portion of the business started in 1999, as a way to generate income in the slower winter months. One of Tierra Farm’s core values has been to cultivate strong relationships with the best organic farmers in the world. Every year they purchase an increasing amount of nuts, seeds and dried fruit directly from the farms, some of which they have worked with for over a decade. Their level of knowledge and communication with their farmers allows them to preserve organic integrity and ensure fair business practices throughout the supply chain. Tierra Farm handles only Certified Organic products which are grown without synthetic pesticides, genetically modified organisms, or chemical fertilizers. This helps sustain biodiversity, conserves fresh water, and enhances the soil. Customers consist mainly of cooperatives and independently owned grocery stores which value working with an employee- owned, environmentally conscious company that manufactures its own products.

Real Pickles is a small, worker-owned cooperative located in Greenfield, Massachusetts, that produces award-winning fermented pickled products that are raw, vinegar-free, 100% organic, regionally grown and solar-powered. Their products include dill pickles, sauerkraut, garlic kraut, red cabbage, kimchi, beets, ginger carrots, turmeric kraut, hot sauce, and garlic dill pickles. Operating since 2001, Real Pickles is committed to promoting human and ecological health by providing people with delicious, nourishing food and by working toward a regional and organic food system. Through community engagement, they help to build a better food system that supports both people and our planet. In an effort to minimize their environmental impact, Real Pickles uses vegetables in their ferments that are grown only in the Northeast U.S. and sold only within the same region. By purchasing over 300,000 pounds of organic vegetables each year, they help support best agricultural practices and healthy ecosystems. 

Real Pickles partners with farms that prioritize healthy living soil, which is good for both sustainable agriculture and high-quality ferments! Organic produce is essential to creating a vigorous fermentation that is packed with important nutrients and full of flavor.

As a co-operative business, Real Pickles gives every worker the opportunity to become an owner of the business. Business decisions are made cooperatively, and the worker-owners foster a creative, supportive, fun, and satisfying work culture.

Honest Weight Food Co-op | @honestweightfoodcoop
Tierra Farm | @tierrafarm
Real Pickles | @realpickles