An increasing number of Americans now patronize their local farmer's markets or stores that carry local produce as a way to help boost their local economies and keep jobs, profits, and tax revenues closer to home.

It's a great way to be patriotic with your purchases if "buy local" and "buy American" strategies are important to you.

But are you sure everything you're buying at your local farmer's market is made or grown either locally or in America?

If you shop at Bert's All-American Market in Littleton, Colorado, you can be absolutely sure that absolutely nothing is imported, whether it's farm fresh fruits and vegetables, salsa, sauces, seafood, eggs, bakery items, sodas, meats, bath items, household cleaners, or organic foods. Even the coffee is American.

Bert's All-American market boasts that their store is the first in either the grocery or convenience store industry to convert fully to completely U.S. origin products.

Buying American and buying local are definitely on the rebound both in the media and in the minds of American consumers who want to see more jobs available for their fellow countrymen. And there has been a huge increase in the number of buy local legislation introduced in cities and towns across America.

Bert's All American market also supports U.S-owned companies - an important step toward creating and retaining jobs in local communities and counties across the country.

Perhaps we should consider the words of Thomas Jefferson, who once said "I have come to a resolution myself - never again to purchase any article of foreign manufacture which can be had of American make."

One thing is clear in today's economy; no one is going to fix it for you, so why not do what you can to make a difference with the dollars you are already spending anyway. American consumers are already great at buying stuff, we just need to channel those purchases to locally and nationally-made stuff to keep revenue recirculating within or local and national boundaries.

Americans have always risen to the occasion to support a cause because they wanted a better future for their families, their nation, and themselves. Isn't that what we are all still seeking today? A buy American and buy local strategy can both go a long way in getting us where we want to be as an economically-prosperous nation.

Bert's All-American Market is much more than just a store in Littleton, Colorado. It represents a tangible template others can use and build upon in their own communities. The concept ingrained in Bert's All-American Market can easily be replicated all across the country by other patriotic American entrepreneurs.

Building a better American economy isn't rocket science. If we want to generate more growth and therefore more jobs where we live and work, we need to spend more of our money with local merchants where we live and work.

If you've ever thought of starting your own business or you've already established one, you might want to consider the model established by Bert's All-American Market. You might even find it easier and more efficient to carry the products made or grown in and around your local community or county than those of distant producers.

I'm sure the local artisans, producers, and growers would lend an enthusiastic ear to the proposal of carrying their products in your store. And there's a certain attractiveness to the local consumer about supporting a business close to home that will keep your American dollars close to home as well.

Why carry so many consumer goods that must shipped across oceans, trucked across borders, and carted through customs and checkpoints anyway when you can avoid all that extra cost and delayed delivery by buying locally?

It all comes down to the question of "whose pockets are we lining?" Why not line our own?

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