Apr 12, 20211 min read

Buy local

You can refer to it as local consumption or local economy, in which money circulates within the community, thus generating job creation, community progress, and a greater connection with its local environment.

Suforall; javier Trespalacios — City Market on Marktplatz, Basel (foto: Javier Trespalacios)

Additionally, in this type of local consumption, fresher foods can be acquired as they come directly from the farmer and are very likely to have been harvested that same week. This allows for understanding the origin of products, establishing contact with producers, and fostering social interaction with them. Moreover, there is a significant reduction in the use of plastic packaging, which often ends up in the oceans, and a minimization of fossil fuel use in transportation, thus contributing to reducing CO₂ emissions and negative effects on climate change.

Buying local contributes to the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

SDG 1: poverty reduction by maintaining and creating jobs;
SDG 2: in the case of farmers, it succeeds in keeping their jobs without putting food production at risk;
SDG 8: promotes local economic growth;
SDG 12: responsible consumption because it uses less packaging;
SDG 13: action for the climate with the reduction in the use of fossil fuels;
SDG 14: less plastic packaging is used, most of the time ending up in the oceans;