A small business is a business that deals with local foodstuffs and products. Many of the stores I saw this time aim to reduce environmental damage in terms of transportation by buying from nearby farmers instead of purchasing ingredients from far away. Still, others purchase ingredients from small farmers and family businesses rather than from well-known production areas. One of the small businesses, a chocolate store called CACAO, uses cacao from relatives. The chocolates are sold by measurement, and I bought a hot chocolate. It was a little expensive, but it was delicious, with a good depth of chocolate and not too sweet. In addition, some of the items sold at the supermarket are fair trade products and products made from the rare cocoa grown in New England. The biggest effect of COVID-19 was that most of the shops had to shut down their business, making it difficult to pay rent and other bills. My group’s topic is the change in life due to COVID-19, I think it was a big loss from what the small businesspeople told us. Also, when I heard that the environmental impact of the plastic case used to make takeout was also a concern, it made me think again about COVID-19 as a big problem in continuing an environmentally friendly business.
