Where possible it's good to buy local. There is lots of reasons for this.
* Firstly you're more likely to know more about the goods and the conditions in which they're produced.
* Transport and fuel use. It often takes much more energy to transport the goods we use to us than it takes to produce the goods themselves. Fossil fuels are cheap financially but the hidden cost on the earth via pollution and mining them in the first place, means that we are subsidizing our lives with artificially cheap energy. Smaller-scale organic agriculture and local production will see a more healthy and more efficient system that meets our needs without compromising the future.
* Local Jobs. Money that remains in the local economy helps in the creation and maintaining of jobs. By supporting local workers and helping to develop local industries Australian skills and potential is enhanced and we as a community have more control over our future.
Melbourne University Economics and Commerce Buildi...
English: service-goods continuum
English: Organic cultivation of mixed vegetables o...This is especially necessary in essential industries such as food and textiles.
* Less Middle men. With more people in the process from production of a raw material to the goods the consumer receives, there are more people to receive a part of the payment. This means that either the retail price rises or, as is often the case, the primary producer receives less. Our cheap goods come with little gain for the average worker and much profit for large multinational companies. On average only 18 cents of every dollar, when buying at a large supermarket, will go to the grower. 82 cents go to various unnecessary middlemen.
* Labour conditions. With industry in Australia, we Australians, have more control over wage conditions and workers rights. Often the exploitation that comes to be a way of life for many...