[IslandCrow]

I am moving into a small rural community . One trouble with it, as seems to be with most rural communities, is that it is in economic decline, and at the end of this year will loose a major employer in the area. My sense is that keeping a viable community will be of great value in the years after oil production has peaked.

Many of the prices are more expensive than the nearest city (on my last visit petrol was 8% higher at the village pumps than in the city). I was wondering what premium the other members of this forum would pay to help keep their local economy going, or would you tend to go for the cheapest prices?

My feeling is that I would pay a premium, but I am not sure just how high I would be prepaired to go, especially as there would be a lot of large expenses with the new place.

Thanks
Island Crow

[WisJim]

We live in a city of around 10,000 people, maybe less. We make an effort to buy from the smaller locally owned places--I refuse to buy anything from WalMart, even though it is at the edge of town.

We are willing to pay more for good fresh produce or meat at the local farmer's market or food coop, and buy beef from a local farm. It is worth a bit more to us to keep the local business in business, and to support th people who live here, rather than sending the profits to WalMart headquarters.

[frankthetank]

Nice thing about Wisconsin Jim is the amt of potatoes produced locally, along with apples, cranberries, and strawberries and you can't beat a SUnfish and Crappies from up north (Nelson Lake). Just add in some peanut butter from New MExico or SE grown peanuts and you've got a meal! OK, maybe some CWD Venison....J/k!

ANd i love french fried taters, uh huh!!

I stay out of Wal-Mart, but tend to shop Woodmans (monster grocery store) for food and buy clothes from second hand places.

[azreal60]

I also shop woodmans, and try to avoid walmart as much as possible. It's becoming harder as i keep getting gift cards to the damn place, but what my work gives out as prizes i'm not going to throw away.

I think I would pay a premium for local goods, just because in todays world, alot of the uncertaintys that come with purchases from far away aren't worth doing so when say i could pick up meat from the guy down the street. If i have a problem with it, I won't have to go thru a giant customer service department to get a resolution to my problem. These kind of local relationships mean the person is less likely to screw you over, and your more likely to know if this is a person you want to buy from.

[cat]

I definately am willing to pay a premium for local goods, and do, especially for food. Other products are more difficult, but I do try to avoid the big box stores and support smaller stores if I can. Honestly, I haven't noticed too much of a change in the amount I spend, probably because I buy and throw away less.

[Klatuu]

We already are moving in the direction of supporting the local suppliers of essential goods and services (primarily foods). It is sometimes hard to resist the temptation of purchasing items for less, but the greater the support for locally produced items now, in the early days of PO, then the more prepared our community will be when the Box-Marts start to close their doors as freighting charges begin to strangle them into oblivion.

[IslandCrow]

Thanks for the replies

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cat', ' ')Honestly, I haven't noticed too much of a change in the amount I spend, probably because I buy and throw away less.