There is nothing more wonderful than a July 4 Barbecue consisting of all fresh, in-season ingredients. Imagine your barbecue stove filled with corn-on-the-cob, tomatoes, shish kabobs — whether all vegetable with crimini mushrooms, zucchini, onion, etc., or with meat or fish and vegetables — sausages, chicken, beef burgers etc. on fresh buns, with zaatar and cucumbers, fresh salad, amazing marinades — finished off with fresh berries, peaches, and exquisite cakes and pies.

As you invite your friends and family to enjoy a feast at your home, celebrating Independence Day and its special meaning this year in this time, think about supporting local vendors — at the market and those all around town — who strive to make a difference, creating their own businesses to offer their concept of what is "very best" to you.

We all have our own experiences of "shopping." We tend to make trade offs in our head about whether something is "unique," has "quality," and is sold at a "price" that we consider reasonable. What you find at a farmers market is typically high on "unique" and "quality," but many regard the "price" as high.

We cannot see the amount of time it takes to prepare the items offered in that special artisan way. We can see the time it takes to personally offer the product, and appreciate that our vendors are there to answer all of your questions and personally explain their product.

A farmers market shopper is unique: it takes "discernment" to appreciate what is special about a particular offering. It takes "a spirit of generosity" to pay the vendor the "modest price" they ask — even though it may appear high. There is a cost to having your family's nourishment well-cared for and the chain of care from farm-to-table intact.

It takes an attitude of "giving" or "blessing" or "gratitude" to experience the positive energy you convey to the vendor or shopkeeper with the money you pay in exchange for the item you receive. Shopping at our local community farmers market — or shopping at any local business that has confined themselves to serving only our community — we "bless" our local vendors and shopkeepers when we choose to receive their local offerings as opposed to traveling miles away to support huge establishments that grow to "wealthiest companies in America" proportions, motivated by bulk buying at lower prices — paying the producers less so that their prices can undercut competition in our local neighborhoods.

On the occasion of Independence Day, it is important to honor independent local small businesses who are launching products and services that each entrepreneur believes will serve you and your family well. Our village is unique, thanks to the unique people in our midst who take the road less traveled, hoping that they can make a real difference in the quality of their neighbor's lives. If we broaden our thinking to have regard for the successful economic base we create when we support local, we can look forward to a thriving village in our future. If we choose rather, to focus on our own penny, quarter, or dollar savings at the expense of local business, we can look forward to more chain stores being able to afford the rent of our commercial spaces, rendering Great Falls a copy of every other town that has sold out on unique for the sake of a buck. On Independence Day, it is good to reflect on the destiny we hope for and translate that into our daily and weekly actions.