Sample Letter to the Editor

The following is a sample letter to the editor, which can be an effective way to create awareness of timely issues that are relevant to your business and to spread the word about your farm.

Dear Editor,

I’d like to encourage all residents of Hamilton and Wenham to patronize local businesses as they shop for holiday gifts for their families and friends. I realize it is not always possible to buy what you want locally, but I encourage local residents to think local first when considering a holiday purchase. Hamilton and Wenham have a large assortment of independently owned shops, offering everything from toys to gourmet foods and wines. It’s easy to search for the best deal online or from a “big-box” retailer, but supporting local businesses benefits our community in a variety of ways. Local businesses:

Keep dollars in the local economy: Compared to chain stores, locally owned businesses recycle a much larger share of their revenue back into the local economy, enriching the whole community.

Care about your community: They will donate to your school athletic team, buy an ad in the program of the local community theater, and work with activists on community improvement campaigns– because the owners of these stores live and work next to you.

Reduce environmental impact: An endless sea of big-box stores is bad for the environment, for road congestion, for development patterns, and a lot more. The open spaces are being eaten up and the downtowns are being drained of their vitality.

Offer unique goods and better service: Local businesses often hire people with a better understanding of the products they are selling and take more time to get to know customers. You’re also more able to find items that are unavailable at a big box retailer.

Put your taxes to good use: Local businesses in town centers require comparatively little infrastructure investment and make more efficient use of public services as compared to nationally owned stores entering the community.

Create great places to work: Local businesses have human-scale workplaces that value and involve their employees, and are flexible and fun places to work.

Thinking local first + buying local when you can = being a local!

Thank you,

Susan Johnson
Johnson Farm










This material is based upon work supported by USDA/NIFA under Award Number 2010-49200-06201.

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