Think globally, buy locally
French fries’ favourite condiment has been all over the news lately, with the news that the Loblaws grocery chain was planning on pulling the French’s brand of ketchup from their store shelves. The decision was quickly rescinded as controversy arose over taking the Canadian made ketchup away from condiment loving consumers. Do people really care about which ketchup is superior, French’s or Heinz? My guess would be probably not. The great ketchup debate of 2016 is a microcosm for a larger issue that has been seriously affecting Canada since the New Year. The main reason for the uproar comes back to the idea that, as Canadians, we should be supporting locally made and grown products. In this ever evolving global world, it is our duty as consumers to support our local businesses and keep production going in our home and native land.. There are plenty of products that are next to impossible to grow in Canada, such as a variety of tropical fruits and vegetables, but there is both an environmental, as well as, an economic benefit to picking up some local produce.
In the last election, two of the most highly discussed topics were the economy and the environment. As of now, neither of these issues is doing so well and serious government action should be taken to try and alleviate the nation’s concerns. Buying more locally made products could be the stone to kill these two ever more worrisome birds. The shipping of food and goods from overseas, whether it’s by sea or by air, puts a tremendous amount of strain on the environment. The ships and planes to move the product, the fuel needed for transport, and the seemingly infinite amount of packaging needed to ship everything; there is a lot of waste that goes into making sure that everything arrives safe and on time. While not all of these resources would completely disappear, there would certainly be less needed to send out a similar quantity of goods.
While the global economy has been a boon for many businesses and investors, the ideology of bringing support back to local business has been picking up steam since the dawn of the new millennium. Consumers are looking for more ways to contribute to their local economies in a meaningful way, and with the Canadian dollar still trying to climb out of the massive slump that it fell into during the past eight months. Even though keeping your dollar local may be slightly more expensive, there’s a certain amount of pride I feel when I see a business flourish; businesses that I’ve helped contribute to. This isn’t a rallying call for everyone to commence a mass exodus from their favourite global retailers, picket big box stores or slap support local buttons onto their jackets. It’s your money and you can choose where to spend it, but hopefully, next time you do, you’ll decide to go local.