Live Small: Do we need another medium-sized potato chip company?

There’s a first time for everything.

(Have you tried my oatmeal recipe that includes diced cranberries and ground almonds? If you’re feeling a bit peckish, call me).

A recent letter to the editor (Feb. 16, London Free Press) got me thinking about small- and medium-sized companies. Not to open one, mind, but where, and what should they make.

Bill H. writes:

“It’s depressing to see the powers that be at city hall planning for the next 50 years, using ideas from the last 50 years.”

I’m pretty sure Bill is referring to the talk about developing more land for industrial use out by the 401, a super-highway that connects London to Windsor, Detroit, and the American mid-west on the one hand (incl. Route 66 if you can find where it starts in Chicago), and our arch-rival Waterloo, then Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Labrador and the Eastern Seaboard (incl. the Maritimes and NYC and all that The Big Apple entails) on the other hand.


["I thought, the things we touch disappear!"]

Sure, smog and diesel fumes are associated with super-highways, and the price of oil will one day put the kibosh on many manufactured goods, but if we can get those miles of expensive tarmac to help us back into the Top Ten of Canadian cities (i.e., population-wise; the Happiness Index, aka HI - Ya, is another story) we should maybe start digging ourselves a deep hole - for solid foundations, I mean.

What’s Bill think about this?

“Handing out corporate welfare to large companies and hoping they make a few jobs doesn’t work anymore.”

“More jobs are created by small- and medium-sized companies than large ones.”

Bill gave several reasons to support his assertion, e.g., “their owners are more likely to live in the community , raise their families here...” etc.


["More chips? More soda? More beef? More pork? More?"]

However, rather than giving a thumbs up to Bill and thumbs down to more big business as usual, or visa versa, my mind went in another direction.

It happens on occasion. I have just learned to go with the flow. Something I learned in the 1960s perhaps.

I thought, should we consider what any small-, medium- or big-business is producing before we throw support behind it?

For example:

In light of North American consumption patterns, do we need a medium-sized potato chip company within driving distance, or even a small one?

In light of rising oil prices and global consumption, do we need industries that rely on huge trucks for supplies and distribution? Remember how quiet the 401 became when oil prices hit the $130 - 140 range a couple of years ago?


["Maybe we need to train for tough times ahead": photos GH]

Should municipal governments (all levels really) be driving sustainable lifestyles, including reductions in production of many non-essential goods, rather than driving the economy with expensive growth near the highway?

Should City Halls consider and discuss what goods, food stuffs, jobs and resultant lifestyles will be sustainable for the next 50 years?

Sure, I’ll have to live until I’m 111-years old to find out but... there is a first time for everything.

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Please click here for a series of posts with a Live Small frame of mind.

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