Written By: Sarah M. – TCR Volunteer.
A promising new environmental movement, choosing locally-grown foods is becoming a popular trend. Labeled the “locavore diet” by Sarah Elton, choosing produce and animal products closer to home is a healthier, ethical, and environmentally-conscious decision. So much more than just another trend, localizing agriculture is the process of bringing it back to a sustainable cycle, which globalization has broken-down in its “time is money” way of thinking. This needs to be one of the main focuses for the 21st century to combat global warming and an array of other environmental problems. Choosing local food usually means that it is also organic. It cycles money back into local communities and in some cases, even empowers communities to grow their own food collectively! Here are some of the benefits of eating local food:
a) Reducing the transportation distance of food cuts down on the emissions that are released when we ship it overseas. Although certain foods are only available from warmer climates (for example, avocados), many of the fruits, vegetables and meat/dairy that can be eaten in season from Ontario are actually grown in California and shipped to Canada.
b) For exotic foods like bananas and avocados, it is advisable to choose fair-trade and organic options (preferably not from large corporations that have organic and non-organic products).
c) Choosing local food is about choosing it wisely. Many corporations have jumped onto the bandwagon and have started calling their products “local”, “natural”, “organic” or “free-range”. With limited market standards, most of these certifications are really corporate greenwashing.
d) Local foods are foods from local family farms, community gardens, or those grown in your house, roof or garden. Eating locally is eating by what the season has to offer wherever possible.
e) Eating locally should entail eating less processed foods. It is a step away from corporate domination of the foods industry.
f) Local produce and animal products are healthier because they are not bursting with antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, and genetically modified materials.
Locally Rescued Almond
With the movement growing in momentum, are there any options for local cat food for conscious pet owners? The healthiest option for cats is homemade raw or cooked food. If you have the time to buy local for your pets and prepare at home, here is a great website to introduce you to the concept: CatInfo.org. For owners who feel they need to continue to buy wet and dry food for their cats, it is always a good idea to look at labels and to buy the closest possible food to a homemade diet. Adding in the locavore concept, buying Canadian is best whenever possible, ideally from Ontario. Here are some Canadian companies I have found are the closest current version to the locavore diet, for Ontarian cats:
1. Orijen – Alberta
2. Acana – Alberta
3. Horizon – Saskatchewan
4. Petz 4 Life (raw food) – Ontario!
5. Carnivora (raw food) – Saskatchewan
Absolutely. Acana is a lower-protein food than the raw diet or Orijen. For cats that still find Acana too rich there are still Canadian, holistic brands that are great options, such as Holistic Blend (made in Ontario but not all the ingredients are Canadian), Oven Baked (made in Quebec but I am not sure where their ingredients are from), Go and Now (made in British Columbia and they have environmental standards you can read about on their website), ProNature (Quebec). Another raw food company in Ontario is Tollden Farms.
Don’t forget to always put the pets best interests ahead of anything else when considering a food. Some kitties can’t take such a high protein diet when others thrive on it but its always nice when the food local or Canadian
We use Weruva canned food for the quality, but we also feed with raw food made from Carnivora meats.
I so agree with this movement to turn back to local communities; recently we became members of the Toronto Dollar non-profit group (as a business) — anyone who is interested in being “green” and supporting local community business should check it out. It’s proven that your small independent business tends to be more community focused and like this article said the more we trend towards buying our products from socially responsible local companies the more we sustain our communities.