The financial problems of our southern neighbours are in the news every day. It is no secret that the $14-trillion debt burden of our American neighbours is threatening to sideline expenditures as perhaps never before.
When Barak Obama was first elected, there was a run on ammunition down south. Ammunition manufacturers were hard-pressed indeed to meet the demand. So hard-pressed were they, in fact, that Whitehorse was temporarily out of stock in many, if not most of the common calibres. Lesson: apparently we are not exactly first in line when the demand stateside outstrips supply.
In light of this, there is a bit of a danger looming that the same effect involving somewhat more urgently needed items such as groceries could have the same effect on the people of the Yukon. Perhaps, if things get much more difficult south of the border and grocery items should happen to be run down a bit there, we might possibly not be first in line for those items either.
Point is, maybe we should all be thinking about that and I’m glad to report that many already are. Yukon-grown produce is available weekly at the Farmers Market. Perhaps we should all give a thought to supporting our local producers more than we are, thereby encouraging them to continue doing what they do best. Giving local agriculture a boost where possible only makes perfect sense, and as a side benefit the food is often much fresher and tastier.
Of course, there are as yet no laws against growing our own gardens, a very satisfying activity with often a big payoff financially.
I leave the possible consequences of relying 100 per cent on the local grocer to your imaginations.
Doug Martens
Teslin