聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 When you have written an opinion piece on any subject weekly for a quarter of a century, you come to truly appreciate when someone takes the time to send off an email regarding the effort.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Admittedly, it鈥檚 even more appreciated when it is a positive response.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 So it was appreciated recently when I received a message relating to the closure of the Kellogg鈥檚 plant in London, Ont.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Kellogg鈥檚 had a long history in Canada and London in particular.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Its Corn Flakes were introduced to Canada in 1914, and the London plant was purchased in 1924.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In 1984, the plant underwent a $223-million expansion.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 By 2005, it was producing 104 million kilograms of product, but by 2014 that was down to 54 million kilograms, and two days before Christmas that year the plant closed.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Now it鈥檚 not that Kellogg鈥檚 breakfast products are no longer on store shelves. It鈥檚 just that they are now made in another country and shipped to Canada for distribution to stores.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The situation is not unique, as the email noted by forwarding a list of facilities closed in Canada. Many of the products were now made outside of Canada, such as the candy made after the closure of the Hershey plant in Smith Falls, Ont. several years ago.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The overall gist of the email was simple enough, and said that perhaps Canadian consumers should spend some time looking at labels and making purchase decisions based upon where the product was made.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It seems like a rather simple idea to buy Canadian to protect jobs in this country.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It tends to run counter to the philosophy of free trade and open borders, which politicians seem intent on pushing for by way of 小蓝视频 signatories to various trade deals. Unfortunately, politics and public desires are often not in sync.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In some respects, label gazing to buy Canadian is just an extension of ideas such as the 100-mile diet, whereby consumers look to buy from local sources as a way to better understand their food supply.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The idea of buying locally, or nationally, for that matter, should be pretty straightforward.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Most chambers of commerce will be supportive of the idea of buying locally, though they don鈥檛 mind dollars arriving from the next town down the road either. Buying locally is always a good concept to hold dear.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Certainly, it鈥檚 a balancing act.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Consumers have budgets, and there has to be a consideration of price, whether it鈥檚 a car, a shirt, or a dozen eggs.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But there also is the question of how many jobs we are willing to see transferred beyond our borders before we decide buying Canada-first should at least be part of the equation when patrolling food aisles, or buying a light bulb.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And that extends very naturally to thinking of our food at least in terms of at least a Canadian diet with milk, cheese, eggs, and pork raised and processed here in this country. Now that is certainly food for thought.
