Think Local : Locally Grown : Locally Made : Local Food : Vancouver

Topics include: local food, carbon emissions, local growers, made locally, fashion designers, recycled, sustainability, greenhouse gases, and carbon tax. Organic food, local food processing companies. Oceans, fish, meat, organic meat, organic vegetables, fruits, berries, strawberries, raspberries, peaches, apples, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes. Think Vancouver, Think Calgary, Think Victoria, Think Edmonton, Think Winnipeg, Think Saskatoon, Think Regina, Think Toronto, Think Hamilton, Think Mississauga, Think London, Think Ottawa, Think St John, Think Charlottetown.

Locally grown food is better for your health. Consumers in Barrie, ON are choosing local food because it is better for the environment. Choosing local food, is the right choice to support ON farmers, and ON food producers. Choosing local food, is best for ON's economy.

Shop for local food : Airdrie, Brooks, Calgary, Camrose, Canmore, Cochrane, Edmonton, Fort Saskatchewan, Grand Centre (Cold Lake), Grande Prairie, High River, Lacombe, Leduc, Lethbridge, Lloydminster. Search our resource directory for local products and environmentally friendly products: Medicine Hat, Okotoks, Red Deer, Spruce Grove, St. Albert, Stony Plain , Sherwood Park, Strathmore, Sylvan Lake, Wetaskiwin, Fort McMurray

Choose local food: Barrie, Aurora, Walkerton, Owen Sound, Orillia, Muskoka, Perry Sound, King City, Newmarket, Huntsville, Midland, Ontario. Get local food: Think Local - buy local food. Think Local - buy from local fashion designers. Think Local - support local businesses. Think Local - suppor our local economy. Think Local - buy local food. Think Local - buy from local fashion designers. Think Local - support local businesses. Think Local - suppor our local economy. check our Resource Directory.

Choosing products made in Barrie, or Made in ON is better for our environment and our local, and ON economy. Choosing to support local artists and support local fashion designers. ON can benefit economically when we support our local economy. The purpose of Thinklocal.ca is to create a connection between local food, local products, local producers, local designers, and locally made products and consumers who are interested in living an environmentally responsible lifestyle.

Our Resource Directory enables people in Barrie or other communities in ON to connect with local products, and local growers. Shop our Resource Directory for your weekly shopping options -- shop for food, gifts, and your personal needs. In addition to local products and services we are featuring products that are environmentally-friendly.

Most people in Barrie and ON are recognizing the benefits of bio-friendly cleaning products, products that are energy efficient and products that have not been transported thousands of miles before reaching the consumer.

Barrie: Ontario, Enjoy local food, Today! Shop local food, shop local food products, shop local artisans, shop local fashion designers.

The benefits of local food:
Local food is the best choice for our environment. It is estimated that the average meal in North America travels 2,400 km before it reaches your table. This is referred to as "food miles" a phrase coined in 1994 by Britain's "SUSTAIN" organization. Over the past 20 years consumers have purchased imported foods from other countries, tripling food imports. Imported foods now account for 1/4 of all goods transported by truck, and air. Airfreight is a major source of pollution.
Are you shopping for local products? Have you checked our Resource Directory, it is a great way to get local.

As Barrie consumers seek to preserve our environment and reduce the damage we have done to the environment, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we have to start with looking at ways we can become involved at a personal level. Food that is transported great distances, the fossil fuels burned in the process are creating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Burning fossil fuels results in emissions of a variety of toxic chemicals, contributing to air pollution, emission of greenhouse gas, acid rain, and climate change. Greenhouse gases are a major contributor to global warming -- referred to as climate change.

By shopping for local food and local products using our Resource Directory to find products grown or made in Barrie or ON, or Canada can help reduce the impact of imports coming from Mexico, China, Thailand, India and other countries where products or foods may be produced with less respect for the environment, not to mention the resulting greenhouse gases that are produced during transportation.

Support your local economy, support environmentally friendly lifestyles by choosing local food, local organic food and local products. Barrie, ON, Surrounding Communities.

Studies show that purchasing local food can reduce environmental impacts significantly. Shop for local food, find local farmers markets, buy from local growers, buy from local artists, buy from local artisans, support local fashion designers and other products made in Barrie, or ON, or Canada. Let your modus operandi be: shop local first, shop ON - second, shop Made in Canada and purchase imported products only if or when absolutely necessary.

"Food Share" an organization in Toronto, found when people focus on buying local food from farmer's markets, the average meal travelled 101km. Compared to the average meal made from imported food products which travelled on average 5,364km. When our food travels this far, it does up to 100 times as much damage to our environment. The you choose to purchasing products producing this many greenhouse gases ( GHGs ) or you choose to purchase products from farmer's markets. It seems like an easy choice.

Shop our Resource Directory and choose products grown locally. Local food, locally produced food products, locally designed fashion, local products -- you can find it all here in our Resource Directory.

Numerous initiatives aimed at educating Canadian consumers to participate in environmentally friendly lifestyles, include The David Suzuki Foundation�s �Nature�s Challenge� which lists eating locally as one of the top 10 things you can do to reduce your global footprint. We would like to encourage Barrie residents to step up to this challenge.

Canada�s �One Tonne Challenge� asked Canadians to reduce their personal GHG emissions by 20%, by reducing GHG emissions from the average five tonnes per household per year to four tonnes. Reducing environmental damage is not a single pronged issue. In order to reduce your contribution to Greenhouse Gases, choosing local foods is just the beginning.

Using energy efficient appliances, learning to turn off the lights when not in use, reducing water consumption can enable you to complete the One Tonne Challenge. We can reduce the stress on the Barrie electrical grid and reduce the stress on the Barrie water supply by making small changes. Studies have shown that replacing enough imported food items with those locally grown can reduce household GHG emissions by a quarter of a tonne � one fourth of your One Tonne Challenge! We encourage residents of Barrie to rise up and meet the challenge. Local food is delicious: Barrie Think Local!

Local produce is more often ripened on the vine or tree, whereas imported food needs to be picked in an under ripe state in order to tolerate the jostling and time delay produced by the shipping process. Local food and local produce is the freshest you can buy. Shop for fresh food, farmer's markets, locally grown food and local food products on our Resource Directory. Once you experience the difference you will want to shop for local food. Imported food from other provinces, other countries and other continents pales by comparison.

Imported food and imported produce is picked a week or even weeks before it is ripe. The nutrient content of food picked before it is intended to be picked is not the same as food picked at its peak of readiness. The color is not fully developed. These foods are often treated with gas to promote ripening and to develop color in order to appeal to the eye of the buyer. Local food is more nutritious.

Shop here for local food! Our Resource Directory includes local foods, restaurants using local foods, locally grown food, organic foods, food products, and other local products. If it makes sense to purchase local food to reduce greenhouse gas, it makes just as much sense to purchase locally made gifts, fashions and other locally made products.

Local food is the most nutritious choice for your family. Buy local food! Get local food here! Our Resource Directory lists local food, local growers, restaurants using local food, and local food producers. Get local food here.

As soon as food is cut from the plant, it begins to deteriorate. Twenty-four to forty-eight hours after harvest, 50 - 80% of Vitamin C is lost from leafy vegetables. Fresh greens such as spinach, lose about half of the carotenoids and foliates after four days of refrigeration. Just think, if those greens come from California, or Mexico, they are probably 7 days old before you put them in your refrigerator and then if you keep them even a couple of days before using them most of the food value is long gone.

It is well known that antioxidants in dark green leafy vegetables are beneficial to cancer prevention. But, if you are not eating local food, are you defeating your efforts to eat a healthy diet. A healthy diet can start with shopping for locally grown food. Consumption of local grown foods, in season, reduces the loss of nutrients. Fresh fruit and vegetables are part of a weight conscious diet, and help reduce obesity. We know that obesity is a major contributor to Type 2 Diabetes and other diseases.

Maritime food sources: Conception Bay South, Corner Brook, Gander, Grand Falls-Windsor, Labrador, Mount Pearl, Paradise
St. John's {St. Johns}, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton (Sydney), Halifax, New Glasgow, Truro

Shop for local food and make choices necessary for a healthy balanced diet. Being aware of the food we eat, results in eating healthy food and eating less processed foods reduces our consumption of sugar, salt, fat and preservatives. Once you have started eating local food, and take the time to prepare food from fresh food, you will wonder how you ate the over-salted, over processed foods that proliferate the grocery store shelves.

Buy local food! Get local food here! Our Resource Directory lists local food, local growers, restaurants using local food, and local food producers. Get local food here: Ajax, Amherstburg, Aurora, Barrie, Belleville, Bracebridge, Bradford, West Gwillimbury, Brampton, Brant (Burford-Paris-St. George), Brantford, Brockville, Burlington, Caledon (Bolton), Cambridge, Chatham-Kent, Clarence-Rockland, Clarington (Bowmanville-Newcastle), Cobourg, Collingwood, Cornwall, East Gwillimbury.

Check out farmer's markets in your local area: Elliot Lake, Erin, Essex, Fort Erie, Georgina (Keswick), Gravenhurst, Grimsby, Guelph, Haldimand (Cayuga-Caledonia-Hagersville), Halton Hills (George), Hamilton, Hawkesbury, Huntsville, Ingersoll ,
Innisfil (Churchill) , Kawartha Lakes (Lindsay), Kenora, Kingston, Kingsville, Kitchener, Lakeshore (Belle River and Tilbury) , LaSalle, Lincoln, London, Markha, Midland, Milton, Mississauga, Mississippi Mills (Almonte), Napanee (Greater Napanee)Newmarket, New Tecumseth (Alliston), Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Norfolk (Nanticoke Simcoe), North Bay, Oakville
Orangeville, Orillia, Oshawa, Ottawa, Owen Sound, Pelham, Pembroke, Petawawa, Peterborough, Pickering, Port Colborne
Prince Edward (Picton), Ontario offers a wide variety of local produce and products: Quinte West, Trenton, Richmond Hill,
Sarnia, Saugeen Shores, (Port Elgin-Southampton) , Sault Ste. Marie, St. Catharines, St. Thomas, Stratford, Sudbury (Greater Sudbury Grand Sudbury), Tecumseh, Temiskaming Shores (Haileybury-New Liskeard), Thorold, Thunder Bay, Tillsonburg, Timmins, Toronto, Vaughan, Wasaga Beach, Waterloo, Welland, Whitby, Whitchurch-Stouffville, Windsor, Woodstock.

Most of us don't realize how the grocery retailers have altered our perception of attractive food. We have grown used to nice smooth light red tomatoes, orange slim carrots, and russet potatoes. The fact is tomatoes come in many colors and are often anything but smooth.

Our Resource Directory is a great place to look for local food: Abbotsford (Matsqui), Burnaby, Campbell River , Central Saanich, Chilliwack, Comox, Coquitlam, Courtenay, Cranbrook, Dawson Creek, Delta, Esquimalt, Fort St. John, Kamloops, Kelowna, Langford, Langley (incl. District Municipality), Lower mainland BC's agricultural diversity is an excellent source for local food and local products. Check local food, artisans, and local products. Support your local economy:
Maple Ridge, Mission, Nanaimo, New Westminster, North Cowichan, North Saanich, North Vancouver (incl. District Municipality), Oak Bay, Parksville, Penticton, Pitt Meadows, Port Alberni , Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Powell River, Prince Rupert, Richmond, Saanich, Salmon Arm, Squamish.

Tomatoes, maybe yellow, orange, dark green, deep red, and come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Each has their own texture and flavor. Beans can be green, yellow or purple. Carrots can be purple, yellow or orange and they may be 4 to 6 times as large in diameter as the typical grocery store carrot. We are missing out on so many of natures goodies.

We can produce more of out food locally. At the present time it is estimated that we eat less than 20% local food, while areas that are rich resources of agricultural land such as the Lower Mainland (Fraser Valley) and Niagara Region could produce up to 85% of the food needed by local consumers.

Buy local food! Get local food here! Our Resource Directory lists local food, local growers, restaurants using local food, and local food producers. Get local food here.

Check local food, artisans, and local products. Support your local economy:Abbotsford (Matsqui), Burnaby, Campbell River , Central Saanich, Chilliwack, Comox, Coquitlam, Courtenay, Cranbrook, Dawson Creek, Delta, Esquimalt, Fort St. John, Kamloops, Kelowna, Langford, Langley (incl. District Municipality), Lower mainland BC's agricultural diversity is an excellent source for local food and local products. Maple Ridge, Mission, Nanaimo, New Westminster. Our Resource Directory is a great place to look for local food: North Cowichan, North Saanich, North Vancouver (incl. District Municipality), Oak Bay, Parksville, Penticton, Pitt Meadows, Port Alberni , Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Powell River, Prince Rupert, Richmond, Saanich, Salmon Arm, Squamish.

Eating ON foods contributes to the economic strength of our region. When we enjoy a community where we have nutritious food, that is produced under safe growing and food handling strategies, and food that is produced using environmentally sound and socially just farming practices we thrive as a community. We are a culturally diverse nation and our farmers produce many of the foods that allow us to celebrate that diversity.

Check out growers in your local area: Elliot Lake, Erin, Essex, Fort Erie, Georgina (Keswick), Gravenhurst, Grimsby, Guelph, Haldimand (Cayuga-Caledonia-Hagersville), Halton Hills (George), Hamilton, Hawkesbury, Huntsville, Ingersoll ,
Innisfil (Churchill) , Kawartha Lakes (Lindsay), Kenora, Kingston, Kingsville, Kitchener, Lakeshore (Belle River and Tilbury) , LaSalle, Lincoln, London, Markha, Midland, Milton, Mississauga, Mississippi Mills (Almonte), Napanee (Greater Napanee)Newmarket, New Tecumseth (Alliston), Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Norfolk (Nanticoke Simcoe), North Bay, Oakville
Orangeville, Orillia, Oshawa, Ottawa, Owen Sound, Pelham, Pembroke, Petawawa, Peterborough, Pickering, Port Colborne
Prince Edward (Picton), Ontario offers a wide variety of local produce and products, shop for gifts and other items: Quinte West, Trenton, Richmond Hill, Sarnia, Saugeen Shores, (Port Elgin-Southampton) , Sault Ste. Marie, St. Catharines, St. Thomas, Stratford, Sudbury (Greater Sudbury Grand Sudbury), Tecumseh, Temiskaming Shores (Haileybury-New Liskeard), Thorold, Thunder Bay, Tillsonburg, Timmins, Toronto, Vaughan, Wasaga Beach, Waterloo, Welland, Whitby, Whitchurch-Stouffville, Windsor, Woodstock.

When we depend more on locally grown food, we can avoid the impact of currency fluctuations, global economic crises, natural disasters, weather, ferry strikes, closed borders, employment disputes that disrupt the movement of food and other factors that are less likely to disrupt local food supplies.

Lower mainland BC's agricultural diversity is an excellent source for local food and local products. Support your local economy:Abbotsford (Matsqui), Burnaby, Campbell River , Central Saanich, Chilliwack, Comox, Coquitlam, Courtenay, Cranbrook, Dawson Creek, Delta, Esquimalt, Fort St. John, Kamloops, Kelowna, Langford, Langley (incl. District Municipality). Check local food, artisans, and local products.Maple Ridge, Mission, Nanaimo, New Westminster. Our Resource Directory is a great place to look for local food: North Cowichan, North Saanich, North Vancouver (incl. District Municipality), Oak Bay, Parksville, Penticton, Pitt Meadows, Port Alberni , Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Powell River, Prince Rupert, Richmond, Saanich, Salmon Arm, Squamish.

Shop local: Brandon, Portage la Prairie, Steinbach, Thompson, Winnipeg. Our Resource Directory is searchable by postal code.

Locate local products: LaSalle, Lincoln, London, Markha, Midland, Milton, Mississauga, Mississippi Mills (Almonte), Napanee (Greater Napanee)Newmarket, New Tecumseth (Alliston), Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Norfolk (Nanticoke Simcoe), North Bay, Oakville, Orangeville, Orillia, Oshawa, Ottawa, Owen Sound, Pelham, Pembroke, Petawawa, Peterborough, Pickering, Port Colborne, Prince Edward (Picton), Ontario offers a wide variety of local produce and products, shop for gifts and other items: Quinte West, Trenton, Richmond Hill, Sarnia, Saugeen Shores, (Port Elgin-Southampton) , Sault Ste. Marie, St. Catharines, St. Thomas, Stratford, Sudbury (Greater Sudbury Grand Sudbury), Tecumseh, Temiskaming Shores (Haileybury-New Liskeard), Thorold, Thunder Bay, Tillsonburg, Timmins, Toronto, Vaughan, Wasaga Beach, Waterloo, Welland, Whitby, Whitchurch-Stouffville, Windsor, Woodstock. Check out growers in your local area: Elliot Lake, Erin, Essex, Fort Erie, Georgina (Keswick), Gravenhurst, Grimsby, Guelph, Haldimand (Cayuga-Caledonia-Hagersville), Halton Hills (George), Hamilton, Hawkesbury, Huntsville, Ingersoll , Innisfil (Churchill) , Kawartha Lakes (Lindsay), Kenora, Kingston, Kingsville, Kitchener, Lakeshore (Belle River and Tilbury) ,

Many changes in our nation have come from grass root movements and it is the only way of changing the environmental problems faced by our world today.

When we shop for local foods we shorten the number of places where contamination can enter our food supply. When we eat primarily fresh foods, we reduce our risk of salmonella or listeria. Processing plants are vigilant, however, every year new outbreaks pop-up such as e-coli, salmonella and listeria.

Shop local: Brandon, Portage la Prairie, Steinbach, Thompson, Winnipeg. Our Resource Directory is searchable by postal code.

We can reduce our exposure to these ailments by being sure we are buying direct from food sources that have fresh picked food. Get local: buy direct from farmers and producers. Visit farmers. Many restaurants are visiting farmers and choosing their food based on seasonal fresh local food. When we choose local food, it is easier for food safety alerts to reach the public in time to prevent widespread danger.

When we shop local we help our provincial, Ontario, economy and helps ON's farmers stay in business. When we buy local food and get food locally, the producer receives a higher percentage of the food dollar. At a farmer's market or an on-farm store, the money is going directly to the producer. This strengthens the economy of our local farmers.

Get local food sold either directly from retailers or a restaurant, from farmers or from a local distributor. It supports our local economy. Keep more of the food dollars in our province. Profits going out of our country or to international distributors and transportation companies, results in a weakening of our economy and jeopardizes our local farmers.

Our recommendation is to buy local organic - first, local non-organic - second, buy food products produced in our province -third and leave imports on the shelf whenever possible. Support the protection of agricultural lands. By supporting farming in Canada we can encourage future generations to continue our rich farming history. Presently farmers are an aging population. It is important that we encourage younger generations the appreciation of the value of our farming culture.

Shop for foods: Maritime seafood. The Maratimes are a great source for fish and seafood. Check it out in our shopping local resource directory: Saint John, Moncton, Fredericton.

Shop and dine at businesses that support local growers. Change your perception of exotic imported foods from being part of your everyday diet, to an occasional treat. Learn what foods are in season and change your diet to correspond to the local foods in season at the time you are consuming them.

Shop local: Brandon, Portage la Prairie, Steinbach, Thompson, Winnipeg. Our Resource Directory is searchable by postal code. Shop Saskatchewan: Estevan, Moose Jaw, North Battleford, Prince Albert. Regina, Saskatoon, Swift Current, Yorkton

Shop for foods: Maritime seafood. The Maratimes are a great source for fish and seafood. Check it out in our shopping local resource directory: Saint John, Moncton, Fredericton.

Choose local sources for dairy products, meats, and grocery items. Just as you may read labels to check ingredients, read the label to see where the food is produced or processed. Join a local Community Garden, frequent the farmer's markets, during harvest season can, freeze or otherwise prepare for winter.

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Why Think Local

Think Local save the Environment!

Our Resource Directory is searchable by Category or Geographically.
Support local growers, local artists and local businesses.

Visit our Resource Directory!

Read our Blog

Why Think Local

Think Local save the Environment!

Our Resource Directory is searchable by Category or Geographically. Support local growers, local artists and local businesses.

Our Resource Directory is searchable by Category or Geographically.
Support local growers, local artists and local businesses.