Hey, everyone!
We’ve been hearing a lot about this idea of ‘shopping local’. But why should we, and why is it a good alternative for the traditional shopping we do (and how is it different)?
As a local producer myself, I often get to go to local fairs and meet other producers. At first, I thought it was just a vent for design lovers - but after some fairs, things began to take roots.
When you buy shampoo, for instance, you buy it at a drug store (probably from a famous franchise); or you go to the supermarket and buy one there.
The point is: even though it is beautiful and full of color and propaganda, most shampoos contain several toxic contents - and even allergens. But they are protected by law and design. You don’t get to know if those substances are really necessary for washing hair and how do they affect the environment. You have no idea how long it will take to dissolve and if it dissolves, what does it do to rivers, seas, ocean fauna and flora?
It doesn’t matter - because all they have to do is show you good design, comfortable perfume and you are game. Good to go. Just bubble my existence, sir.
The point is - we can make shampoo at home. As good - most of the times, even better! - as those you find in supermarkets. Some people actually get to study the subject and create incredible shampoos - that contain no allergens, dissolve entirely and in bottles that do not stay forever in a trash dump.
Why don’t you simply get this and change your life at once?
Sometimes, we get accustomed. We share some memories with those perfumes (and their delightful stories). We expect them to be safe. We trust them. We blindly trust everything we see in a supermarket. It is good enough to be here, we think. It is more comfortable to buy everything in just one spot, you think.
The point is, while you think life gets easier, it does not.
When you buy local, your money goes to your people. When you buy at a supermarket, a small % of it goes to sub-paid employees that live in suburbs and the rest go to, well, rich people. Which you aren’t. For real, trust me. If you are here reading about ‘shopping local’ you must be middle class, for sure.
And we, just ‘middle class’, ‘lower class’, or whatever name ‘the others’ receive, we are a lot of people.
We can sustain ourselves with food grown by ourselves (most of Brazil’s local food comes from family farms - the massive amounts of land produce soy and export). We can use clothing made with organic cotton planted by ourselves. We can use lotion, incense, jewelry, shoes, washing soap - all produced by ourselves. Without the anxiety of buying because buying. Without the need for showing off. And local networks empower those thoughts.
In the end, we can make choices - and understand that our freedom comes with the responsibility to our lands, friends, family and people. Not because of nation - but because we are connected in a delicate, balanced network, in which we expect each of us to thrive, prosper and live a fulfilled life.