“Shop Locally”
Introduction
I. Five thousand, one hundred and sixty-eight dollars. We’d all like to have that much money. What is the significance of that number? It is how much money Austin loses per year per 1000 square feet of chain restaurants.
II. Why do I know this? Well, in the last 10 years of living in Austin I’ve gone from someone who bought clothes at the mall and groceries at HEB to someone who has done the research behind where I spend my money. So should you.
III. In this time of economic strain, we should invest our money locally for many reasons. The three I’ll address today are: first, the return of locally spent money to our community, two, the availability and diversity of local products and finally, the degree of responsibility local merchants hold.
[ But first, let’s stick with that ever important subject sensitive to everyone, money.]
Body
A. Let’s revisit that number I mentioned in the beginning. These numbers come from an economic study presented to the Austin City Council. Civic Economics, who are the economic consultants that researched local companies versus “big box” companies such as Wal-Mart and other chains, conducted the study and how it impacts Austin’s economy.
B. The details are that national chain restaurants, specifically those that are franchised cost Austin, that’s indirectly you and me $5,168 per year per 1,000 square feet. That is every Subway, McDonalds, and Burger King, among others in Austin.
C. What this breaks down to is for every dollar spent at a chain, only 13 cents stays in Austin because basically large chains pay minimum wages and only that labor cost stays in Austin. How can we fix this?
1. For that same dollar spent at a local merchant, at least 50 cents stay local.
2. Another solution proposed by the Austin Independent Business Alliance and supported by News 8 Austin was for everyone in Austin to shop locally for just one day. This would result in fourteen million dollars staying in Austin that would otherwise leave our community.
[ Ok, so we’ve heard the money argument, what about availability and quality? Austin is still a relatively small town right?]
II. I used to think the best way to buy my groceries were from the big retailers since I could get basically everything I needed in one place. Now, I urge you to break this habit and open your eyes to what Austin has to offer.
A. Let’s get real, why is it a good idea to buy raw meat and fresh produce from a place that stores it in the same stockroom as they store Drano? Do we really need things to be that convenient?
B. The Austin Chronicle did a study on the availability of interesting ethnic ingredients in Austin.
1. The food editors purchased a book called The Appetizer Atlas. It had hundreds of recipes from twenty-eight different culinary regions.
2. Every single item for every single recipe was found in Austin at a locally owned merchant.
3. I’ll pass around a listing of some of these merchants for those of you new to Austin and willing to explore.
C. Along with availability, diversity of what is available should be explored.
1. We have all heard the argument that chain restaurants are good because people can visit any city and eat what they eat at home.
a. My first question would be why are you leaving home if you aren’t looking for a new experience?
i. I say go beyond your comfort zone and sample what each new place has to offer.
b. Also, in this day when 40 percent of the money spent at restaurants goes to the top 100 chains, I say demand local availability as well as variety and spread the wealth back into your local communities.
[ So, we’ve tackled money, and availability, what does buying food locally do for you in the short term?]
III. Buying locally means you can hold an individual responsible for their actions.
A. According to Gary Paul Nabhan, a MacArthur Fellowship winning ethno-botanist, “The food we put into our mouths today travels an average of thirteen hundred miles from where it is produced, changing hands at least six times along the way.”
1. Buying locally means eating locally. Not only does the money you spend at a farmer’s market go directly back into the farm, you can actually meet the person who grew it, packed it, and sold it to you.
a. This means you can ask him what was done to it and if it makes you sick, you can contact him about it.
B. Buying locally means supporting local causes.
1. There are several local businesses including the farmer’s markets that donate their left over food to Caritas, the Austin Food Bank, Salvation Army and other soup kitchens.
2. In 1998, a Community Action Network report counted 9,000 low-income Austinites who seek food daily from emergency sources such as food banks.
a. Since then, the Green Corn Project supported by Austin’s Boggy Creek Farm has not merely donated leftover food, they have volunteered with others to start home gardens for people who cannot afford food, but have a plot of land. What national chain based out of another state care enough to do this for our community? None.
Conclusion
I. Summary statement: In summary, we’ve covered how to financially support your community by shopping locally, the diversity and accountability of locally grown food, as well as how the local business helps support our community.
II. Call for Action: Now that you are armed with this information, I urge you once again to challenge your comfort zone. Don’t buy out of convenience; buy using your conscience. Just because Randall’s has all the things you normally buy, where is your money going? Where is the food from? How was it produced? Who is accountable? Until you can answer these questions, you should not support them with your dollar.
Bibliography
Civic Economics. Economic Impact Analysis: A Case Study Local Merchants vs. Chain Retailers Executive Summary. LiveableCity. Austin, TX. December 2002.
Green Corn Project. “Planting the Seed”. http://www.greencornproject.org/history/background.html. 7 November, 2003.
Mitchell, Stacy. “Independent Businesses, Unite”. In Business. July/August 2003. p. 16-18
Nabhan, Gary Paul. Coming Home to Eat. W. W. Norton and Company. New York, NY. 2002.
News 8 Austin. “Local Businesses Push to Unchain Austin”. http://www.news8austin.com/content/your_news/?secid=278&arid=89598.
17 November 2003.
News 8 Austin. “Farmers’ Market Ends Successful First Year”. http://www.news8austin.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?arid=90247.
22 November 2003
Public Revenues from Local Business. “Local Stores Create Triple the Economic Activity of Chain Stores”. http://www.sanlorenzoexpress.com/revenue.htm.
23 November 2003.
Vann, Mick. “Around the World…”. The Austin Chronicle. 28 February 2003: Cuisines.
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The organization did not respond to media inquiries soon enough for publication.
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