ARTICLES

LOCAL FOODS – MISSION (IM)POSSIBLE?

Most people have now heard a lot of support for the local food movement. The benefits can be quite obvious - less pollution is created in the transportation of these foods and local foods are generally “safer” or at least more comforting. We know where they were grown and that Ontario regulations, practices and laws were followed. It is a great philosophy, but because of our Canadian climate, local produce is by definition seasonal. Summer means fresh peaches, pears, strawberries and nectarines and fall means tomatoes, apples from local orchards. Because eating healthy food is important to all of us, eating only local foods year round is not as easy as it sounds with our Canadian weather. We therefore have to look to purchasing products that are non-local.

We are lucky in a sense that there are local greenhouses/hothouses that grow certain crops all year round, thus providing local tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and peppers during the winter months, although a bit pricier than non-local. During the summer months, most products are harvested for a short period of time and only available for a short season. Growing up I am sure you remember that when a product was in season you ate it until you had your fill; you canned, jarred and froze the product to eat across the winter. It was the only way back then. Some produce was not available in stores year round as it is today so if you wanted that product you had to store it yourself. And even if out of season products were available, they were very expensive.

Some things have changed greatly. Most products are now available year round in fairly consistent quality, but not from our local market. Today it is tough to get over 20% of our products to be truly local (not just packed local) and to still provide consistent quality and fresh products. So make sure you enjoy all the local fruits and vegetables during their peak season, and don’t feel badly eating non-local fruits and vegetables during the winter months. When possible, support your locally grown produce and eat healthy all year round!