Buying local is, once again, a prominent theme in the 2014 Culinary Forecast from the National Restaurant Association. And with Small Business Saturday celebrating its 4th successful “Shop Small” campaign (consumers who were aware of Small Business Saturday spent $5.7 billion with independent merchants on the Saturday after Thanksgiving in 2013), shopping locally is a hot trend. For consumers, spending locally keeps tax revenues in their communities and leads to booming local economies. … [Read more...]