We are all connected and actions do speak louder than words
Many of us take for granted the availability of our options via which to purchase food and merchandise. Unfortunately, such a luxury is not guaranteed globally with that reality being driven home by worldimpacting events.
There are times when we enjoy “getting out of Dodge” via a day trip or a lengthier vacation. Those excursions enable us to temporarily put the woes of life on a back burner, to get some peace of mind and, hopefully, to relax and enjoy ourselves. The harsh truth of the past couple of years and current global happenings emphasizes the reality that the world’s events cast their effects upon you and me. It is near impossible to deny the fact that we all are connected in some manner.
We now are in 2022, two years into this COVID pandemic while anticipating a sixth wave of infections and enduring the worldly effects spreading out from the Russian invasion of Ukraine with their repercussions hitting all of us in one way or another.
Be it food prices, fuel costs, climate changes, natural disasters, international economics, supplies and services disruptions, or pollutants entering our air or waterways, we and our descendants will feel their fallouts.
When there are disruptions for Canada’s supply chains - the links that carry goods to and from markets - due to floods, fires, blockages, pandemics, labour disruptions or war, there are rising costs for producers and consumers that facilitate far-reaching consequences.
Much of what we purchase originates from other countries whether that is in the form of the actual products or their ingredients. For example, the world is now dealing with problems in the supplying of vegetable oils - the oils used in the manufacturing of many of our eatable items. Labour problems, droughts and the Ukrainian war have had direct impacts within edible-oil producing countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Ukraine, Paraguay and Brazil.
I did a quick scan of my clothing with nothing - other than my Stanfield’s - being made in Canada. An equally rapid perusal of food within my home gave me examples of items not produced in Canada but from origins such as the U.S.A., Peru, Mexico, South Africa or India.
Many of us take for granted the availability of our options via which to purchase food and merchandise. Unfortunately, such a luxury is not guaranteed globally with that reality being driven home by world-impacting events. Be it world activities such as natural disasters, droughts, forest fires, air pollution or weather events, borders don’t stop their influences on us.
A tragic act of violence within another country that had an impact on my wife and me was 9/11. At that time Betty had been operating a bed and breakfast in Truro for 15 years. For several years after 9/11 there was a distinct reduction within the vacationer business which we suspected was due to caution about travelling. That demise in guests greatly influenced our decisions to retire from the hospitality business and move to Guysborough --- a positive that resulted from a negative.
As stated by Sylvain Charlebois, The Chronicle Herald (April 30), since our entire planet functions on a 90-day production cycle of agricultural commodities and due to the COVID pandemic as well as the invasion of Ukraine, “By the time we are done with 2022, it is likely that more than 100 million additional people will experience hunger or acute hunger, something the world have never seen.” The impacts resulting from such a tragedy are unknown. We can hope Charlebois’ is wrong; however, if he is correct, we will not be exempt from its dire consequences.
As individuals or regions what can we do? I propose that we accept the fact that we are all connected. Acknowledge that our personal choices plus governmental and business policies do have far-reaching consequences. On a world scale Nova Scotia’s one million residents spread over its 49 municipalities exerts a minuscule influence but, regardless of whether we are individuals, organizations, businesses or governments, we are all connected and actions do speak louder than words.