Breaking the Chains Campaign & 14 Reasons to Buy Local

Check out the Organic Consumers Association's Breaking the Chains campaign:

Using universal equity as the meeting point, this campaign appears to be bridging the gap between the environmentally-focused local movement and that which has been focusing on economic/community security.

About the Campaign

OCA's Breaking the Chains Campaign is focusing consumers' attention on how each purchasing decision can lead to a safer, greener, and more equitable society. Millions of green minded consumers around the world have broken the chains of corporate control in their own lives, by supporting organic, Fair Made, and locally produced products and businesses.

It is time for these individuals to come together as a single voice to break the influence of big chains, corporate agribusiness, and sweatshop driven economies the world over.

You can join the Breaking the Chains network, and become a part of this powerful force for change, by taking the Breaking the Chains Pledge, by distributing materials downloaded from this page, and by spreading the word to family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues.

Why Break the Chains?

The quality and range of America's daily essentials is being dictated and degraded by a powerful network of Brand Name Bullies and Big Box chains. By "outsourcing" from sweatshops in the factories and fields, by cutting corners on public health and the environment, and by sucking up billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies, business behemoths such as Wal-Mart, Monsanto, Starbucks and others have constructed a vast global shopping mall of cheap goods and conveniences, reinforced by a non-stop, 24/7 glut of multi-media distractions.

Why Buy Local or Regional?

Today, much of our food, conventional and organic alike, is traveling literally thousands of miles from farm to fork. Along the way, food loses its nutritional value, burns fossil fuels, and contributes to global warming. Local foods provide exceptional taste and freshness, strengthen our local economy, and support endangered family farms.

Check out this nifty PDF that just screams "Print me out and put me on the refrigerator!"