Localization: An Alternative to the New Normal

Guest Post by Colin Todhunter

‘World Localization Day’ will be celebrated on 20 June. Organised by the non-profit Local Futures, this annual coming together of people from across the world began in 2020 and focuses on the need to localise supply-chains and recover our connection with nature and community.

The stated aim is to:

galvanize the worldwide localization movement into a force for systemic change”.

Local Futures, founded by Helena Norberg-Hodge, urges us to imagine a very different world, one in which most of our food comes from nearby farmers who ensure food security year round and where the money we spend on everyday goods continues to recirculate in the local economy.

We are asked to imagine local businesses providing ample, meaningful employment opportunities, instead of our hard-earned cash being immediately siphoned off to some distant corporate headquarters.

Small farms would be key in this respect. They are integral to local markets and networks, short supply chains, food sovereignty, more diverse cropping systems and healthier diets. And they tend to serve the food requirements of communities rather than the interests of big business, institutional investors and shareholders half a world away.

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Americans Return to Farms

Submitted by Hardscrabble Farmer

Via WKBN

Limit on meat purchases in supermarkets causing consumers to head to farms, butchers

(WKBN) – Meat processing plants have been affected by COVID-19. Now, some major grocery store chains are limiting how much meat you can buy because they are receiving fewer meat products.

So, when you head out to get your groceries this week, you might not be able to get everything you need.

“Tons of customers, new customers coming through just because a lot of the grocery stores have got a pause in their chain because we don’t use the same suppliers as them,” said butcher Will Lightner.

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