We're Living for a Year Without Shopping at Chain Stores and Eating at Chain Restaurants

Chained in America

Over the past few generations, chain stores and chain restaurants have become ubiquitous in our society.

Instead of purchasing clothes, hardware, and other things from local merchants, we buy them from the Gap, WalMart, and Home Depot. Instead of eating at local restaurants, we eat at chain restaurants such as McDonald's, Applebees, and Pizza Hut.

We've changed the way we grow and purchase food, too. We used to buy locally grown produce and locally raised meat and poultry. Even McDonald's started out purchasing its beef from local farmers.

But now industrial farming has replaced local farming. And the produce and meat from these farms end up on the shelves of chain grocery stores -- such as Food Lion and Shaws -- for us to buy.

Unchained in America -- Citizens Not Consumers

Today, many people yearn for the "good ol' days" when they were unchained in America. In those times, people identified themselves primarily as citizens of their towns and communities -- not as consumers of goods. Citizens bought from local stores owned by merchants who also were members of the community and who were invested in their community.

Unchained in America -- the Challenge

But can we live unchained in America today? Or have chain stores and restaurants become so pervasive in our society that we can't live without them?

We decided to find out if we actually can live for a year unchained in America -- without buying from chain stores and eating at chain restaurants. Or, if we have to buy from a chain, what motivated us to do that. From this experient, we hope to shed a reflective light on consumer culture in the 21st century.

Unchained in America -- Our Blogs

We might be husband and wife, but we're still separate individuals with our own interests and experiences. So we're going to blog separately about the challenges of living unchained in America -- Dan in his blog and Lisa in her blog.

Please follow us -- and join us -- in living unchained in America.

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