The Benefits of Localisation
Author: Pamela EA
Adapted from Localization Action Guide by Local Futures
Around the world, localisation is gaining momentum for being a solution multiplier.
From localising economic activity and supporting small businesses to decentralising energy systems, localisation continues to prove to be the solution to numerous systemic problems.
Localisation recognises the local community as best placed to be the decision-makers and implementers of solutions when it comes to challenges and opportunities impacting their own region. Additionally, localising economic activity grants the structure to reconnect with the local people and land, as well as to rebuild deeper connections with nature, communities and ourselves.
Similar to globalisation, localisation is a complex and multifaceted concept which looks different across different locations and sectors. As a result, when we consider the benefits of localisation, they are equally as diverse and far-reaching, looking different in different contexts.
Some of the benefits outlined by Local Futures include:
Improving environmental health
Reducing the scale of economic activity is essential for slowing climate change and reversing ecological degradation. This doesn’t mean our quality of life will also be reduced: place-based economies excel at promoting both human well-being and environmental health. For example, small-scale ecological farms produce more food per acre than industrial monocultures, while also supporting soil health and wildlife.
Increasing place-based jobs
Stricter regulation of global corporations and banks, coupled with the revitalisation of local businesses and local food systems, would lead to an increase in place-based jobs that directly contribute to community health and prosperity
Invigorating democracy
Localisation shifts power away from huge corporations, giving ordinary people a bigger voice in the democratic process. The localisation movement has enormous potential to help us move beyond the entrenched Left/Right divide: it upholds the livelihoods of small-business owners while addressing the concerns of environmentalists, and can appeal to free-market conservatives as much as to progressive socialists.
Making business more accountable
The huge distances involved in global trade make it impossible for most people to know the impacts of their purchasing decisions. Because local economies shorten the distances between producers and consumers, it becomes easier to know whether your food was grown with respect for the land and whether your clothes were made by workers who were treated well and paid fairly.
Increasing happiness
Local economies contribute to a more grounded sense of self at the individual level because their personal validation depends on face-to-face interpersonal relationships, rather than digital media and consumerism. Strong community networks also reduce pressure on families, counteract the spread of depression, and create a sense of purpose and fulfilment among their members.
Reducing global poverty
An emphasis on local production for local markets would lead countries in the global South – which currently export vast quantities of food, timber, minerals, and commodities – to instead preserve these resources for their own use and for future generations. 550 million people in Asia, Africa, and Oceania could be fed from land that has been taken over by foreign governments and corporations.
As well as these broad-ranging benefits of localisation presented by Local Futures, there also exist multiple benefits specifically across food, business, energy, and local consumption - all of which further contribute to the benefits outlined above.
Food
Currently, globalisation within the food industry means that many food products travel thousands of miles before reaching our plates. Studies show that processed food in the United States travels over 1300 miles, and fresh produce travels over 1500 miles, before being consumed. These ‘food miles’ often require large amounts of fossil fuels, which in turn results in more greenhouse gas emissions, fueling climate change. By eating locally grown food, both fossil fuel use and the resultant CO2 emissions are reduced.
Localising our food systems would not only drastically cut our food’s carbon footprint, but would also decrease the amount of energy that is used in refrigeration, packaging, and processing.
In addition, shifting to local or regional markets encourages local farms to diversify their production, instead of planting single-crop monocultures. Returning plant diversity to farmland could be a key step toward sustainable pest control, as pest insects are drawn towards monocultures: As a study on monoculture at the University of California, Davis found, the problem with monocultures is that if an insect likes the crop, that insect has a large food supply to draw from all in one place. Conversely, a field containing a variety of plants does not offer a large block of food for the insect, so it will not get the nutrients it needs to survive and thrive.
A monoculture is like a buffet for plant-eating insects where every dish is delicious. A variable crop is like a buffet where every other dish is nasty.
William C. Wetzel, University of California, Davis, 2016)
Localised food systems then, not only enable the production of organic products but in addition, reduce the toxic burden on adjacent ecosystems. The diversification and reduction of pesticides would provide more niches for wildlife to occupy. This means that, as Local Futures says, “local food naturally supports the principle of diversity on which ecological farming – and life itself – is based.”
Business
Local businesses create more jobs and benefit the local economy.
Local businesses often rely more on human labour and less on energy or technology when compared to large global businesses. Due to their reliance on human labour, small businesses create more jobs. According to a report done by the Institute for Local Resilience, Independent retailers employ 57 people for every $10 million in sales, while Amazon employs just 23 for the same amount of sales. Similarly, a study by Friends of the Earth, showed that every new supermarket that opens in the UK leads to a net loss of 276 jobs.
Local businesses often also have more transparency, not only benefitting the company’s workers, but also the local environment and community as the business can be held accountable for their impact on these groups. Similarly, the shortened supply chain of local businesses means the production and the impact of the business post-consumption. This transparency makes it easier for both the business and customer to make ethical and informed choices.
Transitioning away from globalised corporations and towards local businesses can also be beneficial for democracy and redistributing greater power towards local decision-makers and citizens and away from corporations. Currently, many corporations have annual revenues larger than the GDPs of entire countries, giving them enormous resources to influence government policy. According to Stacy Mitchell from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Amazon alone employs more lobbyists in the US than there are members of the US Senate. She concludes that companies such as Amazon, Apple, and Facebook “have created a form of private government – autocratic regimes that are tightening their control over our main arteries of commerce and information.” This type of control and power can also be seen in the fossil fuel industry, agribusiness, and other giant corporations.
By supporting our local businesses, we are not only mobilising our local economies but are also diminishing the power of global corporations.
With this in mind, it is important that our money and policies prioritise the small producer and marketer, rather than the corporate giants and multinational companies.
Energy
Localising and decentralising the energy we use helps to diminish the political power of huge energy corporations (this includes the fossil fuel industry). This means reducing the power they use to bend public policy to their own profit-seeking ends.
When large and distant corporations control the energy we rely on, we have little say in where that energy comes from. Localisation gives us this control. In addition, it reduces our energy needs and consumption. When we localise our food systems, we not only cut down on food miles, we reduce the need for energy-dependent packaging, processing and refrigeration; meanwhile, use more human labour -which creates more jobs- and less energy-intensive equipment.
When we localise, we give ourselves the opportunity to live far richer lives while consuming far fewer resources.
Local Consumption
Modern economies have the mentality of infinite growth, despite them extracting from limited resources. Being constantly bombarded by this mindset has promoted excessive consumption and created societies where many of us feel as if we are incomplete if we don’t have the newest technology, fashion, or product.
In addition to being inundated with numerous advertisements of new products that are “bigger and better” than what we currently have, this consumerist culture has come in tandem to products that are intentionally designed to be replaced after a year or two of being used, even when the materials are crafted to last a lifetime. This is known as “planned obsolescence.”
Local economies are effective at meeting people’s genuine needs, yet they are not made to please artificial desires constructed by consumerism. For this reason, reducing unnecessary consumption goes hand-in-hand with strengthening local economies and communities.
The localisation of these systems presents tangible and community-led solutions, prioritising resilience, democracy, and justice whilst addressing both ecological and social problems. By coming together as a community, we are not only supporting one another but are actively creating a better world.
Learn more and get involved in the Localisation Movement
Read more on the power of Localisation including an introduction to Economic Globalisation, the power of local initiatives, and more in our topic Localisation.
