Letter of the day: Buy Local/Buy Smart is a good form of patriotic consumption

"Long-term community benefits" is what Buy Local/Buy Smart means to me ("Buy Local/Buy Smart kicks off," Nov. 23). It's about looking beyond the pennies that might be saved by dealing with big-box or online retailers to the many extras we get from our privately owned local companies. Learning about the Buy Local/Buy Smart program is a happy note to kick off this holiday gift season. Let's think of supporting our local community as a form of old-fashioned patriotism -- a way of giving back to the communities we live in with payoffs both now and in the future.BILL STEINBICKER, MINNETONKA