She helped found Local First Utah in 2005, just as similar groups were emerging across the country. Today, the number of groups promoting "local first" or "buy local" campaigns is at an all-time high.

Econ desk: ‘Buy Local’ Is Just Nonsense The holiday-shopping injunction to “buy local or buy from small businesses . . . is pure nonsense,” opines Kevin D. Williamson at National ­Review ...

The Buy Local movement didn't start this year, of course. One well-established program is the Buy Fresh, Buy Local campaign launched in Iowa in 2003 by the Center for Energy and Environmental ...