to read...

Wayne Roberts of the Toronto food policy council

"... Imagine that a government gave a cash or tax incentive worth $10 for every $100-purchase of local, sustainable and nutritious groceries. Hugh Joseph and his colleagues from the Friedmann School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston showed that knowledgeable and frugal shoppers could buy such food (as benchmarked against an exhaustive list prepared by nutritionists with the US Department of Agriculture) for about 10 per cent more than the long-distance foods in a typical shopping basket.

Assuming that the cost difference is similar in Canada, what would happen if a Canadian stimulus program picked up the $10 surcharge for every $100 spent on certified local, sustainable and nutritious food? If three million Canuck households took the government up on this offer every week – it’s commonly estimated that a third of shoppers are already keen to try such food if the price is right – the government would have to dole out $1.5-billion per year ($10 per week x 50 weeks x 3 million shoppers). In return, these three million new customers would spend some $15-billion worth of job-creating food purchases (3 million x $100 x 52 weeks). ..."

read the whole article!!

http://alternativesjournal.ca/articles/eat-this-recession