Canada First!

I have been trying to be a locavore for awhile now and I guess the desire to eat and shop locally is now expanding into trying to support our economy. Maybe it is just a natural progression to expand the local from my community to my country.

Definition of a locavore: “Someone who exclusively (or at least primarily) eats foods from their local or regional foodshed or a determined radius from their home (commonly either 100 or 250 miles, depending on location). By eating locally, most locavores hope to create a greater connection between themselves and their food sources, resist industrialized and processed foods, and support their local economy. The majority of locavores do not give themselves a strict radius from which to eat, but instead buy as much of their food as they can from farmers, growers, and sellers with whom they have a relationship or whose growing or producing practices appeal they want to support.
Many locavores give themselves several exceptions to their local diet. Commonly excluded items include coffee, chocolate, salt, and/or spices - although locavores tend to try and find local coffee roasters, chocolate producers, and spice importers when they can”.

That is the starting point of thoughtful consumption – to buy local when I can.

I chose local food for freshness reasons but I also shop locally because it sustains the town I live in. I have been reading about Darren Barefoot who is spending a year living Canadian – he buys, eats and consume only Canadian products and services which I think is fascinating as I can see the potential for developing more Canadian products. Thoughtful Consumption means thinking of the origin of the product before buying it and trying to source a local item instead.

What if we had a pool of one million people who were committed to buying Canadian products first? Maybe more companies would be interested in trying to develop and launch products if there was a ready and willing pool of customers and an easy way to contact them. Imagine a registry of Canada First consumers, how about it? Every grocery store would have a local section with all the products kept together to make it easier for the consumer to find the products. If the demand is there the retailer will participate.

So while I wait for one million “Canada First” consumers to sign up on my blog I will try to live as Canadian as I can for the next month.

I will only listen to Canadian music which shouldn’t be difficult as I have all of Leonard Cohen’s music on my i-pod. I also love Jann Arden and Paul Brandt and there is a long list of Canadian artists like Celine Dion, Shania Twain and Sarah McLachlan.

Canadian Television is harder to find but I love HGTV and there are several Canadian hosts like Mike Holmes and Debbie Travis. I can watch Canadian news, cooking shows with Michael Smith and Linda Olson, Rick Mercer Report and of course there is my beloved CBC Radio.

Canadian authors are plentiful and maybe I will discover new authors just because they are local.

I have already sourced lots of local food and I can get red and white wine from Creston, BC. There is lots of local beer in Calgary and I especially love Wild Rose Brewery and they have great food too.

First challenge will be tires for my car – are there any still made in Canada?