
{"id":8455,"date":"2009-12-25T08:16:16","date_gmt":"2009-12-25T16:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=8455"},"modified":"2009-12-25T08:16:16","modified_gmt":"2009-12-25T16:16:16","slug":"letter-thanks-for-local-coverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2009\/12\/25\/letter-thanks-for-local-coverage\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter: Thanks for local coverage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Thank you for your coverage of the local economy efforts under way in Carrboro (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Making Local Work for You,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d 12\/17\/09). Margot Lester\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s vision of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153concentric circles emanating from the Paris of the Piedmont\u00e2\u20ac\u009d brought to mind author Michael Shuman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153purchasing ladder.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Shuman has served as an economic development consultant to the town and his book, <em>Small Mart Revolution<\/em>, was used to kick-off discussions on the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Local Living Economy Taskforce.)<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>For Shuman, the first option is to buy less, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a self-reliant community ultimately must be grounded in more self-reliant individuals, families, and institutions.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d When you shop, he advises, try to buy local, seeking the best combination of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a locally owned store, selling locally made goods, and using locally found inputs.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d During our recent Buy Carrboro Week, locally owned Nested had a week-long promotion of locally made products.<\/p>\n<p>As Lester points out, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a whole lot you won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t find in that category of strictly local. Shuman next recommends buying regional. Like local, the regional is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a vague term. It usually refers to an area defined more by ecology, geography, and culture than by legal and jurisdictional boundaries. The [economic] multiplier from buying regionally will be lower than if you had bought locally, but it will not be irrelevant.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The N.C. Crafts Gallery combines local ownership with regional\/state products, carrying the work of more than 500 North Carolinians.<\/p>\n<p>When buying from outside the region, Shuman advocates buying Fair Trade. The Fair Trade movement prioritizes environmental and social standards while helping workers and smallscale producers move toward self-sufficiency. Many Fair Trade products are available at Weaver Street Market including an extensive selection from Equal Exchange, the oldest and largest Fair Trade company in the country. Scott Conary of Open Eye Cafe is very active in supporting Fair Trade coffee growers in Central America.<\/p>\n<p>And that leaves everything else. But before you rush off to Durham for cheap goods, refer back to Margot Lester\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s article \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Underwear Uncovered in Carrboro\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Citizen, 12\/19\/2008). There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more available in Carrboro than you might suspect. And, the big box chains might not be such a bargain after all. As well as Shuman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s book, check out Stacy Mitchell\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Big Box Swindle and Greg Spotts\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price (or Robert Greenwald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s film version).<\/p>\n<p><em>Dan Coleman<br \/>\nCarrboro <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thank you for your coverage of the local economy efforts under way in Carrboro (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Making Local Work for You,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d 12\/17\/09). Margot Lester\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s vision of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153concentric circles emanating from the Paris of the Piedmont\u00e2\u20ac\u009d brought to mind author Michael Shuman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153purchasing ladder.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Shuman has served as an economic development consultant to the town and his book,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8455"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8456,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8455\/revisions\/8456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}