Support your Local Market

A friend and I were discussing this recently - local markets. You know the ones - held at a park, or maybe the local community hall, some of the bigger ones even have their own permanent venue. Some are just a handful of stalls while others are more elaborate, but the common factor they share is that the stallholers depend on you to support them.

Take craft markets - and I have a lot of experience with these. If the local artisans in your area are working, creating and putting lots of time and effort into their creations they may develop quite a following. It is a MUST to support these people! If you have an impending birthday, or Mothers Day or even before Christmas and you are buying gifts - why on earth would you go to a big shopping centre to battle the crowds and part with way too many dollars when you can purchase something handmade?

Now, I am not referring to the sort of markets we are seeing popping up all over the place in permanent sites - big, mega markets full of imported rubbish, cheap clothing and mass produced items. These are basically a shopping centre in disguise and unfortunately the word "market" has consumers fooled into thinking they are getting a bargain, tsk tsk. The markets I am talking about are those with local stallholders, selling handmade, home baked or even second hand goods. These markets are completely anti-consumerism and that's why I love 'em.

To get across the point I am trying to make I'll use the example of jam. Now, jam is a household product for most families and most people buy it on a regular basis. I recently discovered that of the popular brands decorating the supermarket shelves here in Australia - only ONE is Australian owned! I was appalled, since there is a lot of them. That of course, still doesn't guarantee Australian product, only that the company is Australian and the jam is made here. I am not certain what the situation is in the US or UK but my point is the reprecussions of a little purchase like jam can be immense! Back to the local markets, you would go a long way to find one that didn't sell home made jam - why not buy your jam there? Just the jam to start. Imagine if every single person that buys jam bought it at their local market? The folks making the jam (usually from homegrown product I might add) are supported. Your money is staying local, enabling that stallholder to continue making jam. It's one less supermarket purchase you have to make. You can be certain of the ingredients, and any questions you have can be asked of the person who actually made it. Imagine the local jam-maker if evey member of the community became his customers?

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic