Money is Power…or is it?

Lynn Ogryzlo’s , creator of “The Ontario Table”, and a full time food columnist since 1996, has written countless food articles and 3 medal winning cookbooks. She was named as our Ontario Local Food Ambassador by the Ontario Farm Fresh Marketing Association in 2012 and has won an award for the promotion of her work as a culinary activist in supporting our local agriculture.
Lynn, together with the Martin Prosperity Institute, believe that the power in money is in where it is spent over the quantity you have. She is promoting a local ten dollar food challenge idea that is changing the minds of people and is hoped to change the collective mind of our communities, provinces and our country. TedX has included Lynn’s message in their plethora of “ideas worth spreading”.

The message, if you consciously make efforts to spend $10 a week on products grown in Ontario, it will generate billions dollars in revenue for our economy by the end of one year, which grows as it circulates, creating more money and 10,000 new jobs. Radical? No, and it difficult. Being aware and choosing local where possible is key. Fruits and veggies are as obvious local options as are dairy and meat but boxed and canned food come from Ontario too and are sitting on the shelves beside the ones from well, elsewhere.
The collaboration between these like minds suggest that of the money spent on local products from an independently owned and operated business, eight of the ten dollars actually stays within our communities versus two dollars that remains when buying products from outside of Ontario.
Food can take a group of houses and make them a community. Common sense choices create more jobs, happy families and thriving communities. Thriving communities have healthy budgets for our municipalities, thus improving our schools and real estate. Spend wisely, choose Local.

Oh the Timmies Timbit!

It’s glossy, sugary texture is alluring and it’s way to easy to eat a box of ten.  I’ve received this timbit from Jared, my Social Media Instructor to write about. They seem so small and harmless at first.  But each one packs an average 70 calories and 2.5 grams of saturated fat.  Doesn’t seem to bad until you’ve polished of the “snack pack”.  A whopping 700 + calories and 250 grams of fat.  Yup, it’s too hard to stop at one and therefore your snack ends up being the calorie intake of what should have been both your lunch and dinner combined! 

Do yourself a favour…put the timbit down.  Choose to eat a piece of dark chocolate it has health benefits too!   

One Step, Big Echo

My daughter, an animal lover, first noticed when she rescued a field mouse from the jaws of a kitten at the age of 3, became a vegetarian early in her teens.  In the information age we live in, she came to understand  the general handling of livestock for mass consumption and it really bothered her.  Laura, now in her second year at York University, and working toward an Honors degree in Environmental Studies, is my inspiration.  If I were to ask her why she remains a vegetarian today, she would say to potentially enlighten people on the issues around our current non sustainable planet.  Okay, not her words exactly,  I’m filtering her knowledge and passion.

I’ve learned a lot through discussions with Laur on topics such as our Oceans, our Environmental Blue Print, and our Governments lack of initiative to be an environmental leader.  I’ve also sought my own information on the subject.  I want to know, who is talking about this and who has thoughts on solutions?  From the President of the United States, the Members of the United Nations, Europe, Canada, Ontario and the people and communities within…I’ve found everybody is talking about it, even if they don’t agree, they’re talking.  My intention is to be a filter, an information seeker and an educator for this movement.    

Knowledge without a medium can be a heavy burden to bear and I don’t wear that stuff well, so please, let me share.  I promise not to rant as I believe that most of what we say is in the way we say it.  And hey, this isn’t so radical, it’s logical and the movement has already started.  I hope I’ve intrigued you.  The Carbon Nation Movie is available for purchase or at your local library.  Entertain the potential.  Let’s re-imagine.

Youtwitface! Have we gone too far?

Since starting a Social Media class in January, which requires you to actually participate in social media, I’ve discovered something I didn’t anticipate.  There are more groups of like minded people than I ever thought possible and this is actually an information river of interesting people and interesting concepts on various topics.

I’ve joined  groups  to share on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn (primarily), on three main topics, local agriculture, real estate in Oakville and Burlington and local businesses and organizations with their own unique way of contributing to the environment and community.  Hard part is participating, you don’t get points for just showing up.  Anxiety fills the room as I hover over the send button on almost everything I post.  Gah!  How will it be received?  I’ve read it three times but maybe I missed a spelling error…and this could be over a 79 character tweet!  I’ve decided I’m human, and to err is human after all.  Besides I have never shied away from a soap box before.

I’ve had a few successes, Bronte Provincial Park and Burlington Sound of music have favorited my tweets and I was retweeted by Burlington Beat in the last few days, this made me ridiculously happy and I realized, I get to be more involved and share information about the community I live in that benefits the community I live in.

I’ve learned of a Central Park Community Garden through social media.  Entries have an opportunity for a boxed in 7 x 12  garden plot to plant a garden.  I’ve entered!  Would you consider growing even a single tomato plant this year?   There is nothing like your own tomato out of the garden.  Only thing better is your local farmers market or road side stand.  Social media can help you to get involved, learn something new and share what you’ve learned.  This is cool.

Yellow Bags

What a great weekend. I am excited to write that Downtown Oakville participated in a pilot project with Yellow Pages to support local businesses and shopping. I spent the day Saturday in Downtown Oakville enjoying the lovely food and merchandise of the businesses that participated. Thank you Yellow Pages and Downtown Oakville.
On my journey to share this concept of supporting our local businesses, I am realizing there are others who are on the same mission and the more we talk about it and participate, the more this concept is going to catch on! Every purchase you make at a local small business has a direct effect on supporting sustainable neighbourhoods and communities. Would you like to learn more about why it is important to shop local? Find information at http://www.shoplocal.yellowpages.ca. Interested in shopping deals and coupons? Down load this free app – ShopWise Canada (look for the yellow bag). Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPod. Start making better shopping decisions! The energy and community spirit is contagious.
Today I spent the day away from shopping. I purchase a Halton Conservation Pass and Provincial Park Pass annually…good for any provincial park in Ontario. Regardless of the time of year there is always so much to do. Swimming, skiing, hiking, snowshoeing camping…the list goes on. I rented cross country ski’s for the first time today at Hilton Falls. What a blast! Two hours of beautiful scenery and exercise. Families and people of all ages were there enjoying the weather and activities. Next time I will bring a lunch and stay longer. Hope the snow stays or comes back quickly!
Halton is a beautiful place to live, work and play with unique businesses, clearly a tight knit community. If you live here congratulations! If you don’t…now is a great time to buy real estate!

Strawberries

First Blog ever.  Yikes!

My journey toward this blog and ultimately this course, “Building Social Media Relationships”, started after taking two courses toward a diploma in Business Administration several years ago.  A college graduate, my intent was to further my opportunities and career in the Dental industry.  Instead, I did a 180, changed my career and earned my Real Estate License.  Today, I am a Realtor in Halton and CEO of my own business.

In January 2013, I intended to resume my studies toward business administration but I found the courses available (now looking through my Realtor eyes) not as appealing.   However, all of the marketing courses seemed immediately applicable.  I chose this course because it seemed like a good next step.  I haven’t actively marketed before now.  I found common tools suggested unimaginative and expensive with little attention to meaningful content.  This didn’t feel authentic or very environmentally responsible ….

I’m hoping this course will take the fear out of communicating online.  As you may see by the timing of this blog, I’m not there yet!  However, if you’re reading this- It does mean I pressed post, this is progress.

I wonder, can I connect and influence my network with thought provoking content that benefits my Community, my business and my online image?  Can engaging in Social Media platforms with passionate valuable content naturally increase my online presence and ranking on Google?  I’m not interested in just making noise.  I want to be beneficial, maybe influential?

In addition to finding new communities and building my business image, this course will at the very least expose me to new experiences and opportunities.  Looking forward to researching and sharing my personal passion, Farm to Table concepts, supporting local businesses and local farmers.

Do you buy strawberries in January?

Choose Canadian – Thank you Hellman’s:

http://youtu.be/dIsEG2SFOvM