Tis the season

Tis the season to shop, which I have never considered a great pleasure. MOA is my idea of torture, and I’m a conscientious objector to Walmart.

Walmart and McDonalds are among the few businesses not struggling as we head deeper into the recession. As people tighten their belts and cut spending, they “down-scale” their expenditures, and these two giants both profit from their down-scale images.

I do like giving gifts, and not everyone needs another loaf of cranberry bread. Luckily, local options abound. Black Dog Cafe hosts a local craft sale for artists and near-artists today (November 29). Ginkgo Coffeehouse has a similar event on December 13. Ten Thousand Villages offers fair-traded gifts from around the world, with Mennonite values supporting local artisans and benefit nights supporting Minnesota non-profits.

Turck’s Trees, my brother and sister-in-law’s tree farm offers a gift shop in addition to trees, wreaths, hayrides and reindeer. Steve and Joan have been raising trees on the family farm for decades, and the shop features lots of locally-made consignment crafts.

Supporting locally-owned business and local craftspeople and artists and bakers and coffee-makers keeps my dollars circulating in the local economy. I feel neither an obligation nor a desire to contribute to Walmart — or Wall Street.

Koko lives at Turck’s Trees.

I know that a cappuccino costs more at Blue Moon or A Fine Grind than it does at McDonalds. But that’s not the point. I save money by brewing my own coffee or tea most of the time. When I go out for coffee, I want to see local art instead of plastic clowns. I want to chat with a barista who lives in my neighborhood, not a drive-through squawk box. I want to sit down in a comfortable chair, and see who else comes through the door.

As Minnesota 2020 reports:

Each $1 spent with a local, independent business keeps 68 cents at home and circulating in the Minnesota economy. About 43 cents of the $1 spent at national chains that do not have headquarters in the state stays behind to boost the local economy. …

[I]f Minnesotans spent 25 percent of their holiday shopping budget on Minnesota made products, the impact would ripple through the economy like a tidal wave and have small and local business people hiring more employees. That would make more than a $2 billion infusion into the state economy. Even a 10 percent increase in purchases of local products would stimulate employment and increase entrepreneurs’ purchases from local suppliers.