Community Event: Locavore Dinner & 10% Shift Talk

Over the last few months I’ve met with a lot of Saanich Business owners and one of the things I kept hearing is that they think consumers don’t realize how huge the benefit is to the local economy if they shift even a little of their spending to local/independent businesses.

To explore this idea and engage with people, my constituency office organized a public event which included a ‘locavore’ dinner (a delicious meal featuring locally grown/raised food, prepared by 'Food for Thought') and a talk by CUPE-BC President Barry O’Neill. People might be surprised that a union leader has emerged as a leader on this issue but Barry has developed a great presentation (tenpercentshift.ca) and even teamed up with people like Shachi Kurl of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business to push the idea. (They co-wrote an op-ed recently in the Vancouver Sun).

One example from Barry's talk that really struck me is this: spend a $100 at amazon.com and the benefit to the local economy is $0.00. Buy at Chapter's and the benefit is $13. And at Munro's or Bolen's? $45!

Over 100 people attended. It was a great evening - thanks Saanich South! Click on the image below to see some photos.

Lana