Sustainability and Local Economic Impact
There are many reasons to make sustainability a priority, but there are many who are skeptical about self benefit. While this concern may seem selfish, it is a completely reasonable perception. When environmental impacts are hard to see, having an economic motivation may help persuade those who are concerned. When it comes to the prosperity of our local communities, buying local produce is a way to help contribute to a sustainable future.
As found in studies done in British Columbia, for every one million dollars in sales, roughly one hundred and fifty thousand dollars will be reinvested locally by larger companies. Small businesses reinvest nearly four times that amount. This opens up a whole new way to contribute to sustainable efforts in your community. By simply having dinner at a local restaurant instead of a national chain, more of your money will be spent to benefit your community. In other words, a higher percentage of money spent at local businesses is circulated back into the local economy.
How citizen's spending create jobs and growth in a community.
While the revenue recycled is great, there is another way to evaluate the benefit of buying locally. The sustainable aspect of these smaller businesses is not the fact that they reinvest locally, it’s about where that money goes. The answer to that is the jobs they create: nearly twice as many as larger companies. Local businesses are now showing themselves to be a viable provider of growth instead of attracting a national chain. The money saved and reinvested in the economy translates into many more jobs, and higher levels of economic growth. This is only example to show that investing locally might have a more sustainable impact for the future prosperity of the local community. The same goes for many food products. Buying local small farm produce or meat means your dollars are being recycled into the community. Just as the small hog farms in Michigan spent 50% more money in their community, many smaller farms are able to help our communities. This is not because these large contract farms are spending their money to raise higher quality meat. These large farms are generally required to purchase feed from a certain supplier. This is where communities are losing valuable funds. By choosing local, money is being reinvested into forming more sustainable communities.
Photo by Katie Stagliano, Flickr
Graph coutesy of Connor Haaf
Small businesses reinvest nearly four times that amount.
The Charger, February 2017
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By Max Wallach