Tonight for Tasty Tuesday, Asheville offers the opportunity to support any of over 50 local restaurants and cafes for dinner ~ and 10% of all proceeds go to the Animal Compassion Network to spay and neuter animals.  I found out through Blog Asheville.

Supporting local establishments, in your own community, is the best way to weather these economic times.  By buying local, you support local business owners, who can then employ local residents.  If these businesses are not supported, people lose their jobs. 

Buying local gives you a say in their business practices.  Most of my favorite eateries in Asheville use organic ingredients, many of which are from local WNC farms, fair trade coffees, and even carry art from local creative minds.  Beautiful settings, locals with jobs they enjoy, family farm being supported, and tasty foods?  What is NOT to love about buying local?

And for tonight, by eating at one of the locations, you help prevent more animals from roaming the streets, from adding to the pet population, from being euthanized here in our municipalities.  When our cities have to spend their government money on housing an overwhelming amount of homeless and stray animals, money is taken away from other local government funding, such as for conservation efforts.  Then, many of the animals are never adopted… and with only so much space for caging these sweet creatures, many are euthanized with toxins, gas, etc. every week, just to keep them moving.

Do us all a favor:  If you live in WNC, spend your Fat Tuesday eating somewhere great and locally-owned… and know that a bit of your money is going to a fantastic cause.  You’ve got great options, including:

Bone-a-Fide Bakery

Cats & Dawgs

Doc Chey’s Noodle House

Filo

Laughing Seed Cafe

Perk’s Coffee Shop & Deli

Pomodoros

Scratch

Sunny Point Cafe (an absolute FAV of mine)

Thai Basil

Urban Burrito

West End Bakery and Cafe

12 Bones Smokehouse (WILDLY popular)

Sustainably yours,

Ashley Sue Allen