If you haven’t seen him shopping around town for all his holiday needs, then you can catch him on Twitter and Facebook. I’m talking about none other than my good “friend” Cresto Gnome. Originally hailing from the second shelf from the top at Cresteramics, Cresto is helping me spread the word about buying local this holiday season. After reading in my report, Kootenay Lake Regional Food Systems, that education is needed for supporting local agriculture, Cresto followed the footsteps of his mentors, the gnomes in the movie Amelie and Travelocity ads, and is out and about in the Creston Valley.
The list of benefits of buying local is long. When we keep our dollars local, we support our neighbours’ businesses and their livelihoods. When our neighbours do well, our communities are vibrant and enjoyable places to live.
Buying local also reduces our impact on climate change. Less travelling to shop results in less greenhouse gas emissions. This is most felt when we buy local food. The average ingredient in a meal travels over 2,500 kilometres before it hits the table — a 25 per cent increase from 1980 alone, never mind a hundred years ago. Our food system is a major contributor to climate change and we have an easy solution right here in the Creston Valley. So not only can you reduce your impact on climate change by shopping for gifts at local stores, but you can make a difference by cooking up a holiday feast from some of the best food grown in the world, right here in the Kootenays. Plus, less travelled food is more nutritious and tastes better.
Yet, it is important that government doesn’t just leave buying local up to individuals. After all, if we say, “Buy B.C. products,” shouldn’t government, as the public’s institutions, buy B.C. too? That’s what we think in the NDP.
As we prepare for the next election in 2013, we’re developing policies that will promote B.C. markets for B.C. products. One way in which we can have a big impact on health, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and supporting farmers is a buy local policy for public institutions like hospitals. Imagine: Instead of food supplied from goodness knows where via the multinational corporation Sysco, the Creston Valley Hospital would serve its patients food grown just a few kilometres away. It’s not just a dream, it is a real action that our provincial government can choose to take, and will take if Adrian Dix is the next premier.
This holiday season, give to your community by shopping local. Whether it’s for the turkey and mashed potatoes, toques and mittens, or something sparkly, keeping dollars close to home makes the world a better place. Just ask the travelling Cresto Gnome.
Go to the events section of my website, www.michellemungall.ca, to learn more about Cresto and how you can follow his travels on Twitter and Facebook. Happy holidays and all the best in 2012!
Michelle Mungall is the member of the legislative assembly for the Nelson-Creston provincial riding, and is the Opposition critic for advanced education, youth and labour market development.