How local is local?
Russell Bell (April 22) urges us to "buy local" and so we should. As he says, we should "support the businesses which provide goods, services and employment and make our collective lives better".
Being responsible consumers is a good start. But how local, or at least New Zealand-wide, are our businesses when it comes to their own sources of supply? What economists call their "derived demand".
Can we expect bakeries to always use local eggs, supermarkets to stock only Kiwi-grown frozen peas, butcheries to avoid any imported meat? I was shocked to learn from recent correspondence with NZ Pork that over 60 per cent of pork products retailed here is from overseas. However, requests to Government for country-of-origin labelling is consistently refused.
But how local is local? Can we expect for our businesses to bank local – with New Zealand-owned banks? Our district council too? Time for our councillors to set an example by demanding from Parliament the right to borrow local - from our own Reserve Bank, instead of from the foreign-controlled debt markets.