Anyone who has talked with me in the past few months knows that I am basically a walking evangelist for Michael Pollan's book, The Omnivore's Dilemma. So, stop right now and go buy it or get it from the library (but you will probably have to highlight a few sentences, so...). Here's why I like it so much.


Reading it made me realize that this slow food, smaller, more local scale food source perspective is actually beginning to influence wider consumer purchase behavior as well. And, there seem to be steps.
First, consumers look for the easy way -- which would be purchasing carbon emission offsets for every purchase you make etc. That way people can continue to buy products designed in one country, produced in another thousands of miles away and then sold, right in downtown anywhere USA -- because they can always offset it.
But, people seem to be becoming more attuned to considering the bigger picture now, and are willing to take a few more complicated steps to be socially/responsible with their purchases.
It reminds me of when recycling first got to be a big deal. People rushed to turn in their plastic bottles, but then the truth hit -- there really was no great way to recycle all that plastic, so the bottles basically went into big warehouses in hopes of a future possibility. That burst the bubble of even trying to do the right thing, and probably stalled recycling a bit.
If it wasn't going to be that easy, did we even want to do it? Yes, apparently we did. Recycling opportunities now abound in many, many communities.
Today, we are also much more aware of thinking about packaging before we make a purchase, doing our darnedest to re-use or pass along, and then finally putting things in the recycling bins if no other reasonably simple options exist. We are no longer hoping to just toss our recycling into some magic bin that makes it go away, but we are taking steps to not produce as much trash from the get-go.
The same thing is going on now in the overall consumer realm. The environmental/social realities of this global economy have settled in, and consumers are taking a step back. We wonder what we might do to influence change,and not contribute to environmental/social harm, instead of just choosing to pay for the harm we know we'll end up doing.
So, how about looking at buying food/products that are more local or at least regional as a start? I mentioned Local First Vermont in a blog post a while back, and I think this shift toward local/regional consumption is happening faster than a lot of us might have imagined -- in a lot of areas around the country.
In Vermont we are lucky. We've got breweries, farms, furniture, ice cream, environmentally sound home/cleaning products and snowboards (in other words, all the essentials) in our backyard. But, I'm guessing if anyone starts to look around their own local area or region, they'd be blown away by how much of what they need (or even just desire) is actually close by.
So what's a bigger brand marketer to do? Deny the truth and hold tight?
No. Instead:
* Figure out how to make more of a difference on the local scale. Wherever your corporate office is - you start there by being a great corporate citizen that everyone in your community recognizes.
* Via event or sponsorship opportunities, get to know customers at other locales so they get a sense that your brand has an interest in their local community in some way, shape or form. If you already sponsor a series of fundraising runs, for instance, is there MORE you can be doing around that event to reflect your positive involvement in that particular place? (Think customized giving back, per region - since you can't just throw tree seedlings around or donate to a breast cancer fund as the one-size-fits-all solution.)
* In any given area, be honest about your awareness of the local/regional perspective, or your lack thereof, and address any related brand environmental/social footprint right up front (on your site or via an ad campaign etc.).
Even if yours is not a good record, you can express your work toward trying to clean up your act -- and consumers will appreciate it.
So, why bother? Buying locally/regionally is not a fad. It won't go away if you hold your breath. Your brand, no matter how large, has to start figuring out how to participate in this cultural change. Connect with the neighborhood outside the doors of your office building to begin.