Tag Archives: buying local

Sundays With Terry–It’s All About Local

Posted on by annandmeg

Sunday breakfast is all about the ritual of exploring Kansas City neighborhoods and finding local restaurants, coffee shops and cafes. There is something truly special about finding one-of-a-kind places to eat. It supports the local economy and gives us the opportunity to really savor the tastes of Kansas City. In recent weeks, we have visited a variety of fascinating coffee shops that are worth a second visit:

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YY’s is within walking distance of the Kauffman Performing Arts Center, but miles apart in attitude. It is a “dive” in the best sense.  The food is good, the maple syrup is real, and the few customers who fit in the confined space  seem to represent a microcosm of Kansas City.

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The Roasterie in Brookside is “Bean Baron” Danny O’Neill’s coffee shop that features his own locally roasted coffees, and a wonderful assortment of rolls, croissants and even desserts.  It is wonderfully suited to the charm of neighborhood near our home.  Danny travels the world in search of great coffee beans and has worked hard to perfect the art of fine coffee.

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Hi Hat focuses on the Pembroke Hill School crowd.  Parents drop by Hi Hat after dropping their kids off at school.  Students visit the coffee shop before and after school.  Too small to have much room inside for customers, except in the coldest weather there are often people gathered on the tiny front porch visiting and enjoying coffees, frozen drinks and muffins or rolls.

We have so many great places to explore here in Kansas City. It’s not only important to support our local businesses, but it’s just so much fun!

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Made in USA Series: The Grocery Store

Posted on by annandmeg

Meg has a J.D. in Urban, Land Use and Environmental Law. She focuses on maintaining the balance of community and environmental health, healthy lifestyles, and encouraging sustainable living.

I have always made an effort to buy local. Usually this has translated into frequenting the local farmers’ market or perhaps stopping by a roadside stand. However, I still go to the grocery store for most of my food items. This is where the challenge begins.

The bulk of my grocery items tend to be fresh produce. I know a lot of people buy frozen veggies and canned goods, but something about fresh, crunchy fruits and vegetables just makes me happy. They smell better, taste better, and overall make me feel better. But does it matter where exactly they come from? I think so. Not necessarily for health reasons, though many would say this is a factor, but also for environmental and economic reasons. Buying locally grown produce helps support local farms (economic benefit) as well as increased sustainability (environmental benefit).

If you’re standing in the grocery store and you want to buy tomatoes, as I was the other day, most of the labels are likely to say “Product of Mexico” on them. (Please note, I have nothing against Mexico, or any other country where many things are grown, I just think it’s important to support U.S. farms and lower our carbon footprint by buying in the U.S.). However, if you search through the different tomato varieties, you can find some that say “Product of USA.” They may cost the same. The Mexico tomatoes might be a little cheaper. But think about the cost of getting those Mexico tomatoes into your grocery store compared to the USA tomatoes. It took more gasoline, they’ve likely traveled at least a day longer and are therefore not as fresh, and they’re not products of U.S. farms. It’s like outsourcing our call centers to India. We’ve outsourced our tomatoes to Mexico. But why? We certainly don’t need to if we can produce tomatoes here in the U.S. Well, I pose that it’s because when faced with the decision of which tomatoes to buy at the store, many people will still buy the tomatoes produced in Mexico. It’s not that they mean to choose between Mexico and USA, they just don’t think about it.

So here is my challenge to you, a challenge I am currently taking on myself. Try to buy fresh produce that says “Product of USA” on the sticker. It’s not as difficult as you might think. Sure, there are a few things you might sacrifice. Last week I couldn’t find any grapes from the U.S., nor could I find local bananas. But everything else has a U.S. grown version if you just take the time to look. Tomatoes, peppers, all kinds of lettuce, fennel, apples, oranges, berries…the list goes on.

Please feel free to share what kinds of produce you can find with a USA sticker, and what produce you can’t find. It will be interesting to see what kinds of U.S. grown fruits and vegetables are more easily available around the country.

Made in the USA: The importance of buying local

Posted on by annandmeg

Meg has a J.D. in Urban, Land Use and Environmental Law. She focuses on maintaining the balance of community and environmental health, healthy lifestyles, and encouraging sustainable living.

How much of what you buy is actually made in the USA? My mother and I were discussing this very topic the other day. We both make it a point to buy U.S. made products whenever possible. Obviously, it’s difficult to make sure everything we buy is made here, but if you’re patient, you can find many U.S. made options for almost any product.

“Made in USA” used to be a considered a stamp of quality. You knew that if you bought something made here in the States, it was going to be top quality and last forever. While that may still be the case, unfortunately, people just don’t think about where products are made anymore. As a result, it becomes more and more difficult for corporations to justify the “higher cost of labor” to have products made here and not somewhere else. So where do they go? Where does almost every “Made in…” stamp say? China.

I don’t have anything against China. From what I know, and I only know from what others have told me based on their experiences, China is filled with smart, kind people who care about the world and how to keep things in balance. These are definitely concepts I find valuable. My only problem with China, quite frankly, is that everyone here complains about how frustrated they are that we are dependent on China to keep our economy running. I have no idea how to approach that frustration, but I do know that we can all start by buying local.

There are a lot of products still made in the USA, you just have to make an effort to look for them. It may mean you have to be patient at times, but if we all make an effort to avoid buying products made somewhere else, then we can do our part to support our own economy and our own workers. Personally, I have been looking for a desk to use at home for several months now. Part of the wait was because I didn’t find anything I liked, but also because I wanted to desk I bought to be made here. Sure enough, when Jake and I went to the hardware store this week, there it was. A nice, simple desk made by Sauder Woodworking Company, manufactured in Ohio. It wasn’t even expensive, which is usually a concern people have about buying local. It was perfect.

So with that in mind, I challenge you to buy local. Whether you are looking for clothing, appliances, vegetables; with almost every product, you can find something “Made in USA.” Some products may be more expensive, but not all of them are. Some of them are still considered top quality, like St. John Knits, Levi Jeans, Maytag, KitchenAid, Lenox fine china, Simon Pearce glassware. One of my personal favorites, Harley Davidson, has a major manufacturing center in Kansas City. Ford still makes their vehicles in Detroit. If you just take the time to look at the label before you buy, you really can do your part to support the U.S. economy.