Thank you, Allen's!

I don't know if I can express how happy this can makes me.  You see, apple juice is my second favourite liquid in the world - the first being fresh apple cider :)

And I haven't had as much as a sip of it in at least 10 years. Not one sip, ever since I learned the amazing fact that most of our apple juice comes from overseas.  

Now I realize the perception of Canada is that it is a land of snow and ice, but the reality is that we have a LOT of agricultural land, and a lot of that is quite suitable for orchards - peaches, cherries, pears, plums, apricots, nectarines, tree nuts - and of course, apples.

I also remember the government paying farmers to pull out cherry orchards when I was a child.  It didn't make sense to me then, and years later, it still doesn't make sense to me. So, long story short, I refuse to support an industry that chooses to purchase a product from overseas to the detriment of local farmers.  We have lost so much farm land, and so many processors, like the local cannery, and I'm tired of trying to get people to see the link between buying cheap foreign food and the loss of good-paying local jobs.

So, I boycotted apple juice.  Until yesterday - when I saw that Allen's was actually promoting local apples and local farmers!!  Of course, it's a "special edition", but I am going to buy as much of this as I think I can use in the next year, and I will contact Allen's to show my support for this, in the hopes that it continues.

And if you live in Ontario, and love apple juice as well, I ask you to do the same.

Let's start rewarding companies for making good choices, for supporting local farmers, for trying to make farming a viable industry.

And join me in toasting Allen's with, of course, a glass of apple juice!