Buy local!

Tue, Oct 7, 2014

Editor: I stood in my kitchen and scraped all but two of the carrots from my three dollar bag.

As I scraped, I was content and my mind flowed even as I encountered several “bumps” on the otherwise smooth structures. I was content because I had “bought local”. I was able to identify with the saleslady and exchange meaningful dialogue as to where on the island the carrots had been grown.{{more}} Yes indeed as I had guessed, they had come from Rose Hall, our highest mainland village. That brought back memories too of the lovely onions which used to come out of that same district in the mid-eighties.

As I scraped, my mind explored the economics of buying local. I was here creating a market and this market, though small initially, would provide an incentive to production, which would translate to greater yields, which would mean more sales, if persons are conscious of buying local, which would mean greater return on sales. This would translate to investment and more spending power, which would mean more self-reliance and less dependency, a very good thing as this saleslady would then be in a position to be of help to others financially and may even come to have others in her employ.

It may be true that the imported carrots are smooth and pretty, but don’t be fooled. Many a local carrot is also smooth and pretty and additionally can be had also in two dollar and one dollar bags. Interestingly, they are sold to you whole, as no rotten part has had to be cut off to make them more presentable.

Buy local, conscientiously.

Gerelyn D John