This Holiday Season Shop Local............................................. 10

Shopping local means healthier and more tasty food options.

Did you know that fruits and vegetables contain the most nutrition when they are ripe? According to Greenopedia, a healthy food blog, this means that by the time they travel across the country to your table, they’re depleted of the key nutrients they once had if bought at peak freshness from a local farmers market or supermarket. When you shop and eat locally, you’re getting a healthier and tastier version of the same product found at a chain store. Better believe your belly will thank you at next dinner when you’re feasting on fresh, roasted vegetables you bought from the farm up the road. Or look for restaurants that use local meats & produce.

Shopping local means you get personalized service and products.

Good customer service can be hard to find at the big chain stores during the holidays due to retail employees often being stretched too thin in their work schedules. Some of the biggest perks of shopping local are the personalized customer service and the unique, handcrafted items you come across. Small business owners don’t build their own business from scratch just for kicks - they do it because they are passionate about keeping their products and services exclusive to their community. Many times, small business owners are able to craft and personalize a product just for you - a service that really comes in handy around the holiday season when you’re searching for one-of-a-kind gifts for the special people in your life (cue mom’s face when she sees her handmade wreath).

Shopping local means giving back to charities in your community.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) conducted a survey a couple years ago and found that 75 percent of small business owners donate some portion of their profits — about six percent on average — to charitable organizations each year. Many times, those charities are found right in your community. So every time you shop local, a portion of your dollars may also be donated to a local charity, especially helpful during the ongoing pandemic.

Shopping local delivers the best customer service.

When you buy local, you experience the perk of seeing your salesperson faceto-face, to help you with future orders or to customize an order you’ve already placed with them. With many chain stores, you won’t get that level of personalized, tailored-to-you service. You may be directed to an online portal or phone recording, warning you that hold times are “longer than usual,” which is enough to make you want to throw your phone at the wall. And you don’t need that kind of stress during the holidays. In addition, many local business owners have personal connections between each other, allowing them to deliver you exclusive deals and recommendations for other needs you may have. And who doesn’t love a good deal around the holidays when money might be tight?

Put your money where your home is. If all of these convincing points weren’t enough to persuade you to shop local not only during the holiday season but year ‘round, consider this: Put your money where your home is. Whatever you consider to be “home” - a cozy one bedroom apartment, mom and dad’s guesthouse, or the place you spent years saving up for and finally own - put your money there. You live in a community full of hidden gems that need your support now more than ever. Help grow your community by shopping local and give the hard-working small business owners in your town the opportunity to thrive beyond the pandemic.

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