Evan Prodromou
I realise that this is a bugaboo of creepy people on the far right, but I still feel like it's very important.
I think the environmental costs of international trade are high. I think the race to the bottom on wages and working conditions are a danger for everyone.
I also think that we should all be eating more food that is native to where we live, rather than Eurasian species grown industrially in Australia or Brazil.
Evan Prodromou
Long distance trade, especially for luxury goods and minerals that aren't evenly distributed on the Earth's surface, has been part of the human experience for tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of years.
Eliminating it entirely would impede a key way we experience the world and connect with others.
Evan Prodromou
But I feel uneasy about using products from far away for building houses or clothing or feeding ourselves here.
Evan Prodromou
@mariellequinton that's untrue. People change what they eat all the time. Food is super trendy.
Marielle Quinton
@evan People are extremely unlikely to change the way they eat. We all know giving up meat and dairy would be a huge benefit to the environment, but what percentage of people actually does that?
Evan Prodromou
Also, at least one person pointed out that I used "nations" here incorrectly. There are nations that are not sovereign countries. I don't find "countries", "nations", or "states" very useful for this kind of poll, but I will probably try to pick one and stick with it.
Evan Prodromou
@mariellequinton @mayintoronto Here's a Quebec company that makes clothes insulated with native milkweed.
Marielle Quinton
@mayintoronto What is the fabric made from?
May Likes Toronto
@mariellequinton @evan There are a few manufacturers in Canada. Jerico.ca makes really comfy low cost plain shirts and sweaters in Toronto. It's not impossible.
When they want it, the government could bring in the talent we need to build up any industry. It's a matter of doing it.
Marielle Quinton
@evan Clothing is hard. Or at least the fabric is. What can we grow in Canada? Wool, hemp, flax. Maybe tencel from wood pulp. But we don't really have the mills or even knowledge for any of that now, except wool and I'm not even sure we can make high quality wool fabric.
Evan Prodromou
@mariellequinton I don't want to fight with you about this.
Marielle Quinton
@evan Yes, trendy food, which also leads to food waste, but that's short term and also isn't about giving stuff up. Mostly people will do small changes, not large ones like cutting out meat and dairy.
Evan Prodromou
@Fork_Merge I don't understand your point.
Fork_Merge
@evan
We share food.
The most fulfilling thing we do.
How many disciplines there are to specifically share food with each other?
Evan Prodromou
@mariellequinton me either. I'm just saying that it's important.
Marielle Quinton
@evan It's not a fight. It's just people are weirdly emotionally connected to food. I'm not sure how we go about getting people to actively change their eating habits.
Evan Prodromou
@mariellequinton @mayintoronto converting to clothing with materials native to Canada is hard, I agree.
Marielle Quinton
@evan @mayintoronto But the fabric is bamboo. I'm guessing they buy the fabric from China and cut and sew it here. Even when it's knit or woven here it's usually from imported cotton etc. We lost most of our processing plants/mills and knowledge. It's going to take a long time to get it back, but we can't grow cotton here. So, my point is just clothing is hard.
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