the chase list...

Below is the start of the Dudley chase list.   Add some ideas of your own, with an email to us (response@dudleydoesright.ca).   We'll add them to the list.  Better still, let’s put initials beside some of these chases!  Pick a story or a question, big or small, and bring something of your own to it.  Check the web, maybe email a PR department or a producer or a blogger or two to get started.  Report your own experiences.  Develop  your own expertise, or find somebody who's got it.   Get the goods.  Then give us the goods on the goods.  

what we eat

Hats off to the Quebec firm, Maison Orphée!  It makes organic Dijon mustard that’s better and cheaper than imports from Dijon, France, we think.  What’s behind all the superior Maison Orphée products just now becoming wildly available across Canada?   A French (from France) foodie reports that the best French mustard seeds are grown in Canada these days.  Where can we buy them?

How can we know that the tropical fruits and vegetables we buy come from growers and distributors that are not U.S. — for instance, how can we avoid Dole, Del Monte, United Fruit, etc. 

How do Nudefruits (“mostly grown in Canada”) frozen fruits rate in pies?  We added a few dried fruits to soak up the juice.  Seemed okay.  Any tips?

Is anybody working on marketing some Canadian healthy fruit concentrates for SodaStream soda water?  We’ve been using Volcano (from the fertile hills of Mt. Etna) lemon and lime juices.  Nice and tart.

Where do our bulk dried herbs and spices come from?  How can we trace the supply chain?  

How can I be sure my bulk beans and lentils are Canadian?

BC’s Raincoast tuna (sustainably caught) has raised the standards for tasty tuna-salad sandwiches in our home.  The extra couple of bucks is worth it.  Now we see a mid-price offering —pole caught from Thailand —about half-way between regular Raincoast and Cloverleaf-style products.  What’s the story behind that?  

With so many big-brand food companies moving production south, have we really lost Canadian jobs in the industry, given the great rise of independent healthy and ethnic local food processing plants in recent years.

What's the next super food from the University of Guelph?

household products

In Toronto, even Canadian Tire has a wide selection of Canadian and U.S.eco-cleaning products.  Canadian Eco Max and Nature Clean (a cleaning person I asked said NC is the best she’s used) look like the real deal.  American Seventh Generation (Burlington, Vt)  and Meyer’s (Racine Wi) are now both owned by multi-nationals.  Which works best?

What aluminum foil should a buy-Canadian shopper purchase now.  Alcan is owned by Reynolds, which is shutting down its Ontario and B.C. plants and moving production out of the country.  Should I even use aluminum foil?   It's made from the most recyclable metal, except the used foil itself is banned from most blue boxes.

health

Eyeglasses.  Canadian designed/manufactured frames?  Who makes our lenses?

Why are European firms like Nestlé and Unilever investing big in Canadian green production?

finance and banking

Can there be a Canadian alternative to Paypal?

How can we make sure there are made-in-Canada, fair-trade and eco-friendly choices when we cash in our loyalty points?

Is it possible for Canadian producers and retailers to band together and offer loyalty points for Canadian eco-friendly products?

Which of the big banks has the best (or worst) track record when it comes to ethical investing, money-laundering, off-shore accounts, etc.?

What ethical funds actually do the job?

tech 

Is there a good Canadian message/dialer app for our phones?

How much of the Canada’s massive data flow is owned or controlled by Canadians?  

What difference does it make that a web host, for a Canadian website, is based in Canada?

How much of  a carbon footprint does the web (and all of its sizzling servers) create?

In 1971 Sen. Keith Davies authored The Uncertain Mirror: Report of the Special Senate Committee on Mass Media.  It changed everything media in a pro-Canadian way.  But back then, everybody in the media could be found in a few columns of the Yellow Pages (remember it?).  How could you accomplish anything like that with today’s sprawling media?

Furniture

Who are the manufacturers of the made-in-Canada furniture advertised by wayfair.ca and Leon’s?

small appliances

Instant Pot, like so many Canadian-designed and distributed products,  is made in China.  What are the benefits of that, compared with a Chinese firm simply making a product there under licence and distributing it here through its own company?  We need some case-by-case examples.

big-ticket appliances.

What Canadian content is there in any major appliances we might buy?

the corporate world

Companies, for example Canadian Tire and Unilever, tell us they've undergone big pro-green changes.  Should we reward them with our shopping?

Where do unions stand?  Is it better to buy eco-friendly products made by non-union labour instead of non-eco products made by union labour?   Give examples.  

trade deals

How can local, Canadian producers thrive if NAFTA collapses? 

What about new possibilities to replace U.S. products with European Union brands?

more to come:

travel, sports. entertainment, pets, cars, gambling, cannabis,  bicycles, parenting, mental health...