Buy Local, Do You Mean It?

Buy Local, Do We Mean It?

There is a growing move in our country to buy local.

Those truly serious about protecting our lives, our environment and our carbon footprint, know what I’m talking about.

The most noticeable move is “farm to table”.

Buy from local farmers so you know where your food comes from, who produced it, and you know they grew it taking everything I mentioned above into account.

When you buy local you save on transportation costs which reduces your carbon footprint.

When you buy local you put your neighbors to work.

When you buy local you support the communities that depend on farming for their livelihood and the businesses who service the farmers.

It’s a beautiful thing.

So here comes my question?

Get Serious About Buying Local

Timber is also a crop.

Here in the Northwest we grow wood products more sustainably than anywhere else in the world.

We have some of the toughest standards on the planet for growing and harvesting trees.

Do you know where that 2 by 4 or that fence board you just bought at Home Depot, came from?

Chances are good it didn’t come from the United States or even the Pacific Northwest.

Why is it important that we know where our food comes from but not other products we use?

As you travel around the PNW you see rural towns crushed by over-regulation and lawsuits filed by the very people promoting local, local, local. These communities once had thriving economies, enough money to pay for services and school. They were self supporting and didn’t need handouts from the government.

We have millions and millions of acres of federal timber that need to be managed properly.

Thinning these tree stands is not just for wood products but also to provide wildlife habitat and to protect this natural resource from fire.

It seems to me we either get serious about sustainability, carbon footprints, and if you so believe, climate change or we don’t.

You can’t pick and choose which crop you pay attention to because all have an impact on our planet.

It’s easy to drive your electric car, shop at the farmers market and take reusable bags to the grocery store.

What’s much more difficult is identifying other products you use and making tough choices about buying local first.

It means opening your mind, educating yourself and truly doing what’s right not just what makes you look good. Consistency is so important.

You can’t be “sustainability selective”.  Either you are in the game or you aren’t. If you aren’t unwilling to do what’s needed to be local, local, local, you are virtue signaling and really just a hypocrite.