A story in this morning’s Edmonton Journal, connected to a larger piece talking about a new poll showing Canadians are increasingly concerned about our health, publishes numbers showing 2 out of 3 Canadians would give up imported beer to reduce their carbon footprint (don’t ask me why the Journal editors thought to put those things together). I find this interesting. You can read the article here.

I don’t really believe the 2/3 statistic, as not that many Canadians are beer drinkers – meaning a lot of non-beer drinkers offered up import beer on the altar of environmental sustainability. However, I think there is something behind this poll. I have been wondering lately whether we are becoming more supportive of local beer, along with local food, etc. The term “locavore” has appeared in the lexicon, and things like the 100-mile diet have become common knowledge.

I personally support eating and drinking local. It makes sense on a number of levels. It DOES decrease our carbon footprint in a remarkably smart way (climate change deniers will be chastised around here…). Plus it keeps money in the local economy, supporting people who live in our neighbourhood (GOOD people like Neil at Alley Kat, Dave at Half Pints, Stephen at Paddock Wood, etc.). So, I am kind of pleased that maybe, just maybe, Canadians are starting to shift to local consumption.

Now, before any of you jump on your keyboards and accuse me of hypocrisy, I will readily admit that I purchase my share of imported beer. I write about imported beer and encourage people to drink some imported beer. We are damned lucky to have such a wide array of quality beer from around the world to drink. Contradiction? I think not. Here’s why.

Appreciating local and appreciating the best the world has to offer are not mutually exclusive concepts. We can and should do both. We have much to learn from that bottle of Dogfish Head 90-Minute or that glass of Fuller’s Vintage Ale. It helps us understand beer and makes our local beer culture richer and more satisfying. What we should not do, however, is be blind to the environmental cost of getting that beer at our local store, shipped as it was from half-way around the world. It is not unlike buying a banana. I could get any banana, produced in exploitative and environmentally damaging ways. Or I could try to buy an organic, fair trade banana (which I do) to try to MINIMIZE the negative impact of my purchase.

The analogy falls short because, generally, beer is not made in exploitative manners. Most brewing jobs are decent and well paid, and the ingredients come from somewhat fairly paid farmers (I know, I know, they should be paid more, but that is another topic). However, buying from an independent, craft brewer from another country is not the same as buying Stella Artois or Heineken, which are part of a huge multi-national corporation. So, I try to encourage the consumption of imports alongside the consumption of local beer. And usually those imports are independently-owned, well-reputed brewers who deserve our praise and money.

There is a difference, in my eyes, between the imports being talked about in that news article today and the kind of import that comes to us in small shipments, intended for discriminating drinkers. Just be mindful that there is an extra cost to that purchase, and do what you can in other parts of your life to make up for it – like hop on your bike or take the damned LRT to work, for God’s sake. It ain’t hard.

Well, enough of that. Must be a slow beer news week.