Good Acceptance

Activism and buying local is not easy by any means. In fact it is not easy at all and kinda sucks sometimes. This newsletter encourages people to be to there things, so we need to show every side of it. Convenience is going to one store and buying everything in one place. When you try  and shop local it is always multiple stores. No local business can get a license to have food, skincare, cleaning products, and clothing. This leads to multiple chances for issues or mistakes....and Nashville traffic.

Trying to plan a route that works with my schedule; and the start times of businesses is something that should require a degree. I try to route myself so I don’t back track, like many of us. It was perfect until the Farmer’s Market that had a parking lot that should have been part of Dante’s Inferno. It made me reroute my plans and find other places to visit. I was lucky to know where to go, and could afford it. Not many people can reroute their day on a dime and still be worried about shopping locally. They would most likely move to the nearest Walmart, Target, or Costco because they have to so they can survive. There is not judgement there, but there is a need for a solution.

The quest for my at the day issue, started with the local shops I already know. Those who are already established. I found a butcher to get my meat from for the week, and a local grocery store to get my pantry/produce items. Local for me is still about twenty minutes away, which not everyone can afford or manage.

To try and better mitigate this issue there should be something closer so everyone can enjoy it. Where I lived a year ago we had a farmers market every Saturday at 8am near the fire department, which means other cities can do the same thing. The issue for many businesses to do this this that they can’t be everywhere at once. For many people the Farmer’s Market will not be on a Sunday so planning for a Saturday will contradict with the Farmers Market in the nearby city. This is where people can get creative with the how a Farmer’s Market can operate.

Planning out a vendor fair, gift swap, or community night can help make connections to further opt-outs comparative big business. A volunteer with United Volunteers of TN mentioned how they had a community night at a bar, just from posting on Facebook. She put a time and place into the community Facebook group, to her surprise people showed up! She made a ton of friends and connections that would have been missed otherwise. This community can help when we want to shop locally but don’t know how, have time, or know the easiest way. Sharing local businesses and being able to rely on their community, will help everyone have an easier experience to shop locally!