Or.....Buy Canadian!

Hm...I was arriving back in my current hometown of Fergus, Ontario one recent evening and thought: "I'm ready for some healthy food!" So, I parked at a large supermarket and went on the hunt for some fresh food. Right outside the store new green and yellow beans from Ontario were on offer. I bought a bunch. Blueberries from British Columbia? Not exactly next door (or within 100 mile diet parameters!) but they looked great (and proved to be so!) and were on sale. Eggplant? Love it! A little searching to find some local.

As I went through this process it was patently obvious that much of the "fresh" food on offer was far from local and much was from outside Canada! I was musing about the fact that we are in mid-August and not far from the famed fruit-growing region of the Niagara Peninsula. The thought came to mind: "So how about snagging some fresh peaches or plums to finish off this selection of foods chock full of vitamins and minerals and other forms of goodness?" Hm.....we're in high season for local ripe fruit and everything is imported??

I took my bag of purchases and headed for the checkout counter confused and concerned. Once there and dealing with a really pleasant lady there the feeling that I had to say something rose up within me! I knew she was in no way responsible but did ask why in a Canadian supermarket in high season for fruits and veggies it was so hard to find Canadian produce. She noted that the question was out of her area of responsibility but did ask if I wanted to speak to a manager. As a regular follower of the principle that you might as well be "in for a sheep instead of just a lamb" I noted that I would like to speak with a manager. She paged one. In short order the Assistant Manager was present and accounted for. We began our chat. He noted that he had fresh Ontario produce on display right at the front door. I agreed. I then asked about the whole peach and plum thing and the fact that there was so much imported produce in the store. He did suggest that there were baskets of Ontario peaches available. Of course, I came quickly back with the comment that I only wanted one to three of each or less and wasn't touching the imported ones!

We kept it all civil and calm. I did leave with the comment that I was involved with the Canadian agricultural industry. I noted that I was a regular customer. As a conclusion I noted that I'd appreciate seeing more local and more Canadian produce on their shelves especially in seasons when it was so readily available.

It is important to be true to yourself and your beliefs. This is far from earth-shattering stuff. I'm pretty sure I didn't change the world with tihs small offering of comments. However, so much of life is about sowing seeds and there's no better time to sow some than today!

If silence reigns anything can happen. If we speak in enough numbers with a loud enough collective voice things can change!!