There’s a corner store around the corner from me where I buy like 99% of my groceries. It’s a local business and it’s less than 60 seconds walking distance from me. Plus it doesn’t price gouge me the way the chain grocery stores do
To cut down eating out in general I’ve tried limiting myself to local restaurants. My rules are that if I want to eat out that’s fine but I have to want it enough to 1) get my fat ass out of the house to go get it and 2) go to a local place.
If I’m going to eat something bad for me I might as well pay a bit more for something more local that tastes better.
I don’t really go out of my way. It’s more like an ingrained habit.
Most notably, I’ve never bought a single thing from Amazon. I don’t even have an account with them. That’s not an ethical decision though - it sort of works out that way, but really it’s just a gut-level reaction. The whole idea just repulses me - just looking at a page from their site is somehow gross and creepy.
By the same token, there’s a long list of businesses I’ve either never gone to or at least haven’t in the last twenty or so years - Walmart, McDonalds, Starbucks, Taco Bell, Olive Garden, Kroger, Subway, Jack in the Box, etc., etc. Basically, if they’re big enough to run national level advertising, they are eliminated from my consideration. And again, it’s not really a conscious choice - they just gross me out. It’s like the instant I set foot in a place like that, I can feel it corroding my soul.
So when I’m looking for somewhere to shop or eat or whatever, just like anyone else does, there are specific places I don’t consider at all. And all major corporations are on that list.
So what’s left over - what I choose from - is local or regional, not because I go out of my way to choose them, but just because they’re the only ones I’m willing to choose in the first place
And the sort of surprising thing, even to me sometimes, is that I’m by no means starved for choices. There’s a world of alternatives out there.