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stouffvihe siintribime wednesday december 26 2007 1 1 cox makes difference with 100mile diet crusade by hannelore volpe staff writer marsha cox is inspired by the idea you can make a differ ence especially when it comes to making the planet a better place to find out what impact you can have by shopping locally the lemonville resident helped launch the 100mile diet at lemonville united church last summer with student minister wanda stride people from the rural church on mccowan road south of bloomington road tried to buy fruit vegetables meat and even dairy products within a 100mile radius of their homes they started with the prem ise buying locally would be a big plus for the environment reducing pollution incurred from transporting and storing food from far away as the summerlong experi ment continued the thinking of many in the congregation began to shift mrs cox began to realize shipping canadian food products overseas provides a viable income for these farmers income they might not have if they only sold locally when the 100mile diet start ed mrs cox thought everyone would turn into organic zeal ots but she found the concept of fair trade became an impor tant issue people who were exporting were also buying into the fair trade argument mrs cox said in canada the fair trade certified label means farm ers and workers in developing countries have been paid a fair price for their products you will see the labels on some brands of coffee tea chocolate fruits such as bananas and mangos cotton garments and more vour guide to learning more if you want to learn more about environmental issues mrs cox recommends several books animal vegetable miracle by barbara kingsolverthe book explores a year of eating locally omnivores dilemma by michael pollan which traces food from the soil to your plate ecoholic by adria vasil a book that highlights environmentally friendly information products and services in canada some local farmers who welcomed church members as customers also sold many of their crops overseas mrs cox began to realize shipping canadian food prod ucts overseas provides a via ble income for these farmers income they might not have if they only sold locally exporting canadian crops benefits people overseas who cant grow these crops themselves in addition if canadians buy fair trade products from these countries we are helping them mrs cox said it expands beyond the 100 miles she said mrs cox eventually came to the conclusion you should still follow the concept of the 100- mile diet but in season when you can the retired librarian recom mended the book bitter choc olate to other congregation members the book by author and broadcaster carol off deals with the less savoury side of the industry which brings chocolate to our tables lately mrs cox has turned her attention to water the availability of clean water and riot using bottles water are two of her newest passions which grew out of her research on the 100-mile- diet changing small things like not using bottled water which staff photomike barrett marsha gox helped organize a 100mile diet initiative at lemonville united church results in mountains of plastic bottles is something every one can do as a group the congrega tion is trying to educate itself on water issues the availability of clean water and not using bottles water are two of her newest passions which grew out of her research on the 100mile diet many problems seem so daunting but we can actually make a difference mrs cox said in her home she decided to switch to environmentally- friendly cleaning products that fact brian and marsha cox have six grandchildren is a prime motivator we are looking at how to improve the planet for them with osteoporosis a fractured hip could be a life sentence osteoporosis society of canada call 18004636842 for more information this message brought to you as a community service of the economistsuntribune houston ford jltd 5786 main st stouffvfife wwwbhihoustonfordcom ec6xwfersw weextenddur sincerest gratitude to all of our customers for their loyalty v ronage throughout the year we wish you all health si happiness in the new yearl v i lectacular savings check out our 2 page centre spread on gj 1 1 ra 3rd 2008 or visit us at wwwthegardenbasketca 9275 markham road corner of 16th ave llmajsm ipf ir-ip- t i rr 905471 0777