Think local, buy local, be local

A few weeks ago, the folks at the Churchill County Museum discovered an advertisement that was published in the Fallon Standard on June 20, 1928. The text in the advertisement reads: “Do Your part in making Churchill County a better place to live and thrive. Spend your money at home — insist upon products grown in Churchill County — upon goods sold by Churchill County stores. Let your dollar continue to do a hundred cents worth of work for the boys and girls of our own County — and incidently (sic) to give you far greater return both directly and indirectly than you could otherwise obtain from it.”

The community of Fallon has been talking about living local for generations! Our commitment to support small businesses owned by our friends and neighbor, to buy produce raised down the street, to eat meat raised buy our community’s children is what makes Fallon such a strong and vibrant community.

A bevy of studies have shown that when you buy from independent, locally owned businesses, significantly more of your money is used to make purchases from other local businesses, service providers, and farms. It is a self-fulfilling cycle. A dollar spent with a Fallon small business leads to more dollars spent locally — strengthening the economic base of the whole community.

There are many ways that Fallon residents can keep their money in the community — buy your next recliner at Bassham Furniture rather than RC Willey, support Kent’s and Louie’s Home Center instead of Lowe’s or Home Depot, buy your vitamins at Country Health, or grab a book at 3rd Space Bookstore not Amazon.com. The benefits of supporting local farmers and ranchers by shopping at the Fallon Food Hub include more than just keeping your money within the community. The quality and healthfulness of locally raised produce, dairy, and meat far exceed that of large factory farms.

Did you know that most produce in the United States is picked over a week before it makes it to supermarket shelves? On average, vegetables raised in the US travel more than 1,500 miles before reaching the produce department in Safeway or Walmart. Those distances are significantly greater when considering produce raised in Mexico, Asia, Canada, South America. The cost of shipping produce these monumental distances is only manageable through artificially low energy prices and by externalizing the environmental costs of industrial agriculture. Within an agricultural model where industrial agribusinesses are given government subsidies, the big losers are the sustainable family farmers and ultimately the customer.

It’s not all doom and gloom, however. Fallon, unlike a whole lot of other places, has several avenues through which you can choose to support sustainable farming and ranching operations. When you shop for groceries at Heck’s Meat and the Fallon Food Hub, you can learn all about the farmers and ranchers who raised your food. When you visit the East Center Street Farmers Market — beginning June 1 — you can talk with local farmers yourself!

There is no better way to “live local” than to support your friends and neighbors — no better way to feel confident in the quality of your produce than to “know your farmer.” Think Fallon, buy Fallon, be Fallon!

Upcoming Food Hub Events

Now-June 12 — Fallon Get Out and Vote. Get 10 percent off your purchase when you come in wearing your “I Voted” sticker.

June 1 — East Center Street Farmers Market & Street Celebration Kickoff, 4-8 p.m. (The event continues Fridays through September.) The kickoff will host a blood drive (donate blood for a chance to win a Harley); Classic Car Show & Shine; Fallon Fire Department Fire Truck; and DJ Davey Munoz.

June 4 — Home Brew Kombucha, 5:30 p.m. Register at fallonfoodhub@gmail.com.