Signs you might be a localist:
- You get stuck in the produce section of the grocery store looking at the signage to find out where the fruit came from and what day it arrived. Turns out you know the farmer.
- Your friends end sentences with “don’t worry, it’s local” when they invite you to dinner or show you an item they purchased.
- You find yourself shaking your fist at big box stores as you drive by.
- You find yourself shaking your fist at news stories about big box stores not paying living wages or health benefits.
- You are pretty sure that your neighbor will know the date and time you came in to purchase something from her store.
- You know the name of the local hardware store owner. And implore your friends to go there and ask for him by name.
- Your employee asks if you mind signing off on those volunteer hours she just completed to help build a playground.
- You win an award for your community participation in your business shifting 10% of your sourcing to local items from locally owned businesses.
- You look at a product in the store and think: “why isn’t this produced in my town?”
- You head straight to the local brew pub to fill up your glass growlers every week.
- You know every farmer by name at the Saturday morning market.
- You know what these numbers mean: 45 vs 13.
- You have some version of an “I Buy Local” sticker on your car, your bike, your computer, your business.
- You visit other cities where you can clearly identify the locally owned business.
- You’ve priced out solar systems for your home.
- You drive a hybrid but prefer to ride a bike.
- You show up at every city council meeting to support ordinances that create more jobs by locally owned businesses, more support for urban farmers, co-working spaces, green jobs.
All of the above.
Sound familiar? You might be a localist! Let’s do more good together and go BIG with your social enterprise ideas and localist business plans.
