Talk about bridging the connection between consumer and producer. A note was found in some Halloween decorations, with the plea from a forced-labor-camp worker to give the note to higher authorities so that something can be done.

I remember I was teaching a small group of grade 9s about how lego is gendered. We got on the topic of consumerism. I drew this messy picture somehow depicting that people in power have the means to make products, but it is the consumer who really has the power because if we stopped buying the product then the corporations would stop making money and would stop making the product. And we troubled that more, because it's more complicated than that, but a few of the kids really had an 'aha' moment. We can't complain about the corruption of those above us who use produce the most awful things by the most awful means when we support them with our incomes.

I told myself that I am not going to buy any new clothing this year. If I buy clothing, it will be used. That's easy enough for me, because there are two "gently used" clothing stores available to me in Regina. You can't go there and expect to find the tank top you want, or the shoes you want, or even the shoe size, but I have a lot of clothes already and I can make due on waiting a little longer for something.

But then there's FOOD....... It seems impossible to me. Buying used clothing is a cheaper option, but when it comes to food, organic is pricier, and if you want to get something like milk or eggs from a local farmer, you have to dig for it. We've gotten so distanced from our things. I understand that globalization can be a good thing, but holy hannah can it cause a lot of terrible other things. Saskatchewan has a lot of food. I was thinking that if I lived on an acreage, and if I had the time, I could grow a garden that could produce all the vegetables that we would need, I could store them in the winters, I could freeze berries. We'd eat a lot less fruit. We could have our own milk cow (milk, cream, yogurt, maybe even cheese...), our own chickens; we could eat our own meat.

But I don't live on an acreage right now. And let's face it, would I have the time?

I just don't understand what's so wrong with being local. Globalization doesn't work when there are the people benefiting on one end (cheap food!) and others working for nothing or next to it somewhere else. If we're going to be able to get whatever kind of food we want, we should have to pay a lot to get it; localized, Saskatchewan-made staples -- those should be the most in-demand, and consequently, the most affordable.

Maybe I'll just have to turn Hutterite.