Do politics affect your grocery list?

Photo: Contributed

Buying food at a local market helps support local businesses and farmers.

With the polarized nature of our world these days, it seems we are taking more note of just who we are supporting as consumers.

So, in line with what I’ve always suggested, this week I’m offering some ideas if you want to look further into supporting more businesses close to home when you shop for food.

I have always been a strong supporter of local businesses and since living in the Okanagan I live close to farmers. So I am conscious of supporting them too. But there are many products that make up our daily life which are not made, or grown, locally, and in some cases not even in our country.

Do you remember about 20 years ago a Canadian book came out called The 100 Mile Diet? It was written by a couple who lived in Vancouver and took on the experiment of eating only food they could source that came from within a 100-mile radius of their home. They managed quite well through local seafood and farmers’ markets. Some of the things they could not find were cooking oil, rice and sugar.

We know grocery stores are making a big effort to showcase Canadian products on their shelves. I’d like to offer a few other options as well. Some are not everyday stops, but they might make a fun outing and a great way to support a community enterprise – which is worth doing regardless of what else is happening in the world.

Shopping with independent stores is usually a bit more expensive but offers other advantages besides low prices. Local businesses will know more readily where their products come from, so it’s often easier to be discerning. In a big store, some things get rebranded or repackaged and may not show the details. Staff might not know the background of everything in stock.

If you’d like more of a one-stop shop, there is a plethora of farmers’ markets in Okanagan communities and numerous farms have stands open to the public, many with an assorted fare like honey, eggs and other good finds. Sometimes in-season items are even less expensive than those shipped into large stores.

We have many specialty grocery items within the hundred-mile zone, too. There are a few cheesemakers in the region—Village Cheese in Armstrong and Upper Bench Winery in Penticton are just two examples. There is also the Gellatly Nut Farm in West Kelowna and they are just the tip of the iceberg.

There are delivery companies now too, if you don’t feel you have enough time to shop around.

• Trulocal offers Canadian meat selections.

• Urban Harvest has a Kelowna branch that provides organic fruits and veggies sourced “as close to home as possible” and is keen to work with you if you are not happy with what is delivered.

• Some local businesses have organized partnerships to allow for customers farther away to pick up pre-arranged orders. Talk to your favourite shop and ask if it has such a thing.

Many often speak about the fact one person can’t make a difference in a world where things move so fast and corporations control so much. We need to remember that in a consumer economy, we drive the bus. If we don’t buy stuff, it doesn’t get sold. That is how we use our voices in the business world for impact.

I know there are many more local gems that offer all kinds of wonderful goods. They depend on us to share the word about their unique offerings, so that’s my last suggestion—tell your friends and neighbours about your favourite local spots.

Let’s use this crazy time as an opportunity to make the most of what we have right here. Let’s turn our energy into something that has positive results.

We’ll digest all that good food so much better if we’re in a positive mood.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.