Eating, Buying, Supporting Local Bend Oregon
By Jen Lewis
Buying local can be expensive. And difficult. And super rewarding.
There is value in supporting the community, and I intend to find out just what that value is. My beautiful friend Brooke kind of challenged me to it, and I'm going with it. Rules of my local pledge? Here we go...
Rule #1: Buy Local
Okay, that's it. That's all I've got. Whether I'm going out to eat, buying fabric, purchasing groceries or grabbing a coffee, I do it only at local shops. I'm avoiding chains altogether, so even if it's a locally-owned part of a national chain, I'm avoiding it.
But notice, it says "buy." If someone offers me non-locally bought food, I'm going to eat it. I'm not that picky; this test is only about my personal decision on how to use my money.
And frankly, I'm going to need some help. People of Bend, where do you buy food locally? I know of Devores, Nature's, Newport Market and the vegetable stand across from Fred Meyer... Where else can I grab groceries?
There are a couple other problems... Today I wanted to print some photos, and I went straight to the Walmart website to start uploading. That's a no-no. But who prints photos anymore? I can't find anyone!
What are your favorite local places, people? If I'm not too poor at the end of this month, I might even continue into April...