tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858253488969915338.post5509092727845146323..comments2010-01-12T14:20:07.109-06:00Lisa Sharphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02583524755306491510noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858253488969915338.post-56829506782135942492010-01-12T14:20:07.109-06:002010-01-12T14:20:07.109-06:00

Carla: I'm so jealous!!

Lisa Sharphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02583524755306491510noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858253488969915338.post-10833178175064027822010-01-12T13:59:33.754-06:002010-01-12T13:59:33.754-06:00

Living where I do (Portland, OR) its super easy to shop locally. Within walking distance, we have a co-op (great for bulk items) and a New Seasons (small, regional chain store). I rarely have to drive to get food which makes it easier for me when the weather isnt so great. IF I want to, I can do the 5-8 minute drive to Whole Foods, but that is rare. <br /><br />One of my living requirements is

Carla @ Green and Chichttp://www.greenandchic.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858253488969915338.post-13079732902018913272010-01-07T15:21:01.902-06:002010-01-07T15:21:01.902-06:00

Robbie: I&#39;m not totally sure because I HATE dealing with money so I make my husband do all of that. We spend about $400 a month on all household items including dog food (which is organic). This month was under because we didn&#39;t need meat but when we need chicken (at $15/lb) it&#39;s a little higher. <br /><br />It will go down some once we get used to this system.<br /><br />These stores

Lisa Sharphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02583524755306491510noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858253488969915338.post-48367851754971793492010-01-07T14:53:08.506-06:002010-01-07T14:53:08.506-06:00

Lisa, I&#39;m sure you mentioned before, but how close to your usual food budget have you been now that you&#39;re at the all-natural stores? It&#39;s easy in the summer, but I&#39;ll be honest, in the winter it&#39;s far more difficult - there is not that much produce.

Robbiehttp://going-green-mama.blogspot.conoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858253488969915338.post-27430414833429474482010-01-05T18:47:25.019-06:002010-01-05T18:47:25.019-06:00

Heather: I never could have guessed, hehe. Oh and both me and my mom (Deanna) do a good job supporting the local restaurant business. Both of our families were invited to the manager of our favorite local restaurant&#39;s wedding. I gave cards to the staff this year. :)<br /><br />Mom: Maybe we should write down the URLs to our blogs about how we shop on our business cards so when people say &

Lisa Sharphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02583524755306491510noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858253488969915338.post-20554563035894458082010-01-05T15:53:45.941-06:002010-01-05T15:53:45.941-06:00

Deanna - I first read about it a little over a year ago in one of our local magazines. A reprint was done this year. See article <a href="http://www.aboutownpress.com/articles/2009/11/22/news/aboutbusiness/doc49f73bd097fa8602560084.txt" rel="nofollow">here</a>.<br /><br />For one of the original study reports, go <a href="http://www.newrules.org/sites/newrules.org/files/midcoaststudy.pdf" rel="

Heather @ SGFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13424022504830645523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858253488969915338.post-48838093057912238652010-01-05T15:16:21.771-06:002010-01-05T15:16:21.771-06:00

Heather: Those stats regarding how much money stays in the community are very interesting. I don&#39;t think I&#39;ve ever seen it broken down like that. Do you have a source for that info? I feel a blog post brewing. ;)<br /><br />Lisa: You know how I shop but I&#39;ll outline it for your readers. ;)<br /><br />This post is quite timely since I just got finished shopping and trying to find

Deannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17113928043039917799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858253488969915338.post-7853609967509613922010-01-05T13:56:28.031-06:002010-01-05T13:56:28.031-06:00

I am so excited because my neighborhood in Chicago is now home to the city&#39;s only Co-op grocery store.<br /><br />We&#39;ve been shopping there twice, and while they are fighting some stocking problems (they are VERY popular) its so far been a really positive experience.<br /><br />Beyond that we do a lot of shopping at several places. Lots of times it&#39;s whole foods or Trader Joes, which

Brekkehttp://www.adeepergreen.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858253488969915338.post-53210099007338996622010-01-05T12:22:46.502-06:002010-01-05T12:22:46.502-06:00

Wonderful! I&#39;m a big supporter of buying local - food and well, everything else! The stats are really convincing:<br /><br />Big-Box store - $14 of $100 stays in the community<br />Locally-owned store - $45 of $100 stays in the community<br /><br />Go local!

Heather @ SGFhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13424022504830645523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858253488969915338.post-52377974110333666502010-01-05T10:37:42.598-06:002010-01-05T10:37:42.598-06:00

Mooreganics: Yeah our cheese comes from a farm that has standards higher than the USDA organic standards but they aren&#39;t certified. It&#39;s so good too! <br /><br />Midwestgreen: That is why we started out at Target they had a lot of organic food but over time they seemed to have less and all of it was so over packaged so we started shifting our money to local stores. It costs a lot but we

Lisa Sharphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02583524755306491510noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858253488969915338.post-32812523156684689092010-01-05T09:57:57.421-06:002010-01-05T09:57:57.421-06:00

LOVE your post! I buy local 90% of the time--I am sad that I can&#39;t buy clothes local, but we don&#39;t buy that many clothes anyway. I buy ALL my groceries and most essentials at a locally owned/operated grocery store and supplement with one other local food store that specializes in organics, etc. We spend less and less at Target and I love shopping local for ALL the reasons you wrote!

Green Girl in Wisconsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08116763577809935670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858253488969915338.post-5612494420981485892010-01-05T06:29:58.764-06:002010-01-05T06:29:58.764-06:00

We do our best to buy local and organic, but we&#39;re definitely shoppers at stores like Giant and Whole Foods. And even then, I notice that our grocery bill just keeps climbing and climbing. It is quite an investment in our environment to keep eating foods that are good for our planet (and that cost a great deal too). In my opinion, it is worth it.

Jessica Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04883632864851759423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858253488969915338.post-76500016169241788992010-01-04T19:15:25.296-06:002010-01-04T19:15:25.296-06:00

The bulk still comes from a chain grocery store (Kroger) - but ours does have a good natural food section and even their store brand has a goodly number of organic options. In addition, most of my purchases are around the periphery and increasingly less in the center part where the processed food is. <br /><br />I do try to balance the big grocery shopping at Kroger with what I can buy at our

midwestgreenhttp://midwestgreen.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858253488969915338.post-29528405703786477252010-01-04T18:12:43.990-06:002010-01-04T18:12:43.990-06:00

The winter months tend to see me at the traditional grocery store. But our purchases for boxed foods has diminished greatly now that we garden in the summer and pick local fruit and freeze for the winter months. I agree that doing a little at a time is much better than trying to make the switch all at once. Making healthy lifestyle changes can be overwhelming, so I have learned to cut myself

Mooreganicshttp://www.holisticnutritionconnection.comnoreply@blogger.com