I think I cheated

Ok...I think that I may have cheated....or it felt that way anyway. I had gone to 3 stops trying to find all of the things on our grocery list on Saturday morning. I had been successful in most places but there were a few things that I could not find. So I was heading to Manch-Vegas to go to the natural food store when it dawned on me that I could stop at what used to be called Vista but is now Harvest Market in Bedford. I walked in and went to the service center and warned them that I had a random question. I then asked about whether or not they were a chain. I was met with a blank stare. I asked, "Are there other Harvest Markets?" They said yes. I asked where? They listed off a bunch of NH towns, so I said, "So you are a NH chain?" They said yes. Sweet I thought! But as a miandered through this store I felt as though I was cheating. Yes the money would stay in the local economy, which is our goal, but I was still able to find things like jello pudding and Kraft macaroni and cheese (not that I bought it but I could find it).

If I didn't cheat, it sure felt like I was. Really this was just a mini sized version of a big box store, almost like a big box store wanna be. Did I cheat?

When you gotta go...

Is it ok to use a chain store when you only leave something rather than buy/take something? So we are well into our month of Localvorism. We have not cheated thus far....although I do have a question. Last weekend we were headed to the natural food store and right next to that is a typical big box grocery store. I knew that the local store did not have a public bathroom....but I also know that the big box grocery store did. Since I only used their bathroom...I don't feel it cheating as no money left my local economy!

The numbers

This picture is of a sign at a business in Olympia, Washington. I have always found these numbers to be fascinating.

Local Stimulus Package

So as many of you know D and I are very conscious about being green and supporting our local economy. We have decided to make May 2009 the Month of Local shopping. Here are the basic rules.

1. No Major Chain stores...No Shaws, Stop and Shop, Hannaford, Target, etc.
2. No Chain restaurants.
3. No internet ordering.
4. Put as much money back into our local economy as possible.

Some things that we already know will be a problem....
1. Gas
2. Possibly Clothing (only if we need clothing)
3. Perscriptions- If we need them.(although there are local pharmacies, it is best to keep perscriptions in the same place so as to stay still for this)


We ran into our first speed bump today. We were driving around running errands and having some of the Adventures that we Batey's have. I was starving and needed to grab something healthy to eat. Knowing that there was a Hannaford coming up on the right, my first thought was to stop there. My next thought was ...damn....its May. No major Grocery Stores. Ok...now what? Well I thought about what else we would be driving by. The next local thing I knew about was a farm stand. As we pull up we read the sign indicating that the farm stand doesn't open for another 6 days. Do you know what this means? I stay hungry! Oh well!

It is amazing how much this will impact. For example, we had to make 2 grocery lists. One for the farm stand that we know is open and one for a small natural food store that we like to frequent. Also, we had been building a list of things that we wanted to buy for our bicycles...clothing and tools and accessories....we didn't place the order before April 30th so instead of ordering them and having them delivered, we had to go buy them in person.

Stay tuned to see the adventures we run into with our challenge this month!