Buy local! Eat local! The modern mantra encouraging the conscientious citizen to support nearby entrepreneurs.

For some reason the good folks of Dearborn have been doing this (without any prompting) for the last, oh … forty or fifty years. Sure you’ll find plenty of big box stores around these parts. But you’ll also find a wealth of businesses who (seemingly) have been around for a few decades, quietly, all without any fanfare or Instagram feeds.

Case in point: Monroe Bakery. OK, I will confess. I don’t know how long Monroe Bakery has been around. It just looks like it’s been here forever. Maybe I’m being fooled by the vintage clip art and the moveable type black & white signboard. But somehow I don’t think so.Oh, and the pasties. Yes, $2.85. Yummy. Flaky. With rutabaga.