Why It Matters:
Eating local foods and shopping at locally owned stores has many benefits, including energy-savings. Eating locally means that you are sourcing fuel for your body closer to home, which helps curb the need for increasingly expensive, polluting fossil fuels to get food from the farm to your table. There are also energy-reducing benefits to patronizing locally owned retail stores. Unlike box stores, which are often sited in far-flung places, many locally owned businesses are located in downtowns or walkable locations.

Organizing education and consumer campaigns aimed at increasing public support for spending more money on Vermont products and in locally owned enterprises is a creative and important way to take a bite out of your community’s energy appetite. 

How To Do It:
Vermont is blessed with many organizations which are helping to build a strong ‘Buy Local’ movement, whether that’s on the food front or the retail front. There are several organizations listed below that would serve as great resources for energy committees interested in taking on a 'buy local' food or retail campaigns. 

For example, one of the most successful consumer campaigns which is helping to shift investments towards Vermont foods and promoting a healthier, more energy-efficient lifestyle is the thriving 'Localvore' moment.

For details on how to organize a 'Localvore' group or campaign in your community, email Robin McDermott or call her at 802-496-3567. Or, click here to find a link to a packet of information about starting your own group.


Eat Local Organizations and Resources:
The Vermont Localvores
Vermont Farmers Markets
Vermont Fresh Network
Valley Food and Farm

Buy Local Organizations and Resources:
Local First Vermont
Local First Alliance