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6- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday August 2, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Commentary Guest Columnist NEIL OLIVER Vice President and Group Publisher DAVID HARVEY General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager Metroland Media Group Ltd. includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, Alliston Herald/Courier, Arthur Enterprise News, Barrie Advance, Caledon Enterprise, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Burlington Shopping News, City Parent, Collingwood/Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country Routes, Etobicoke Guardian, Flamborough Review, Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Harriston Review, Huronia Business Times, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror, Milton MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA ANCHOR Circ. Manager WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver is a division of Enjoy fresh Ontario foods this summer Kevin Flynn, Oakville MPP ummer is in full swing. As the summer sun warms the ground, our thoughts turn to vacation plans and gathKevin Flynn erings with family and friends. This season as you prepare for your next barbecue remember the wonderful taste and quality of Ontario's fresh, local food. Currently there is a huge assortment of fresh local produce available. Here in Oakville, we have an abundance of local food products that are available in our farmers' markets, grocery stores, and throughout our great local restaurants. We are very lucky to have three local farmers markets that take place each summer in Oakville, and many more that take place throughout Halton Region. Hopedale Mall holds its farmers market every Saturday from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. and the Kerr Village Farmers Market runs Saturdays from 9 a.m.-1 pm. New this year is also the farmers market at Oakville Place every Thursday. The quality of our local produce is second to none. The Ontario government is working hard with many groups to promote and sell more local food for everyone's benefit. When you buy food local the products are fresher and taste better. It also benefits local producers, sellers and consumers. Buying local food also benefits the environment. Local foods contain less packaging and it takes less fuel to reach the consumer. Most people have probably seen the `Good things grow in Ontario' television commercials. There are also many promotional materials including the well-known Foodland Ontario symbol on a wider range of products. While it used to be only fresh fruits and vegetables, the campaign is also now expanding into deli, fresh meats, dairy and baked goods. This year, the Ontario budget included even more investments -- $56 million over four years -- for ongoing local food promotions and a farmers' market initiative. Your government is also further developing Savour Ontario -- an innovative dining and tourism program that will promote Ontario foods in fine and vacation dining establishments across the province. Savour Ontario showcases the best and freshest that Ontario has to offer. Savour Ontario members are committed to promoting local foods, and serving and identifying Ontario food items on their menus. I would like to congratulate Il Fornello, a local restaurant chain, which has recently celebrated its one year anniversary of its all-Ontario menu. I would also like to congratulate the Twisted Fork and Paradiso, two Oakville restaurants that recently have been awarded the 2008 VQA Restaurant Award of Excellence. The VQA Restaurant Award of Excellence, given by the Wine Council of Ontario, annually recognizes licensees who are embracing Ontario wines and inspiring their patrons with substantial Ontario VQA wine lists. We make some of the best wine in the world right here in Ontario and now more people are able to enjoy that wine in our local restaurants. Building awareness among Ontario consumers of the broad range, high quality, fresh Ontario products available in grocery stores, farmers' markets and restaurants across Ontario takes innovation, creativity, and partnerships. We all have a role to play -- government, industry stakeholders, producers, processors, retailers, consumers -- working together, we can and will get more Ontario grown foods on the tables of Ontario families. I would encourage everyone who lives in Oakville, as well as visitors to our area to `Pick Ontario Freshness'. It's good for you, good for the environment, good for our local IAN OLIVER President Media Group Ltd. 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While both events invariably provide suspense, intrigue, excitement and what the French like to call a certain "je ne sais quoi" (stale croissant, I believe), they have a tough time living up to the hype and not collapsing under the inherent weight of expectations. In the case of the Olympics, four long years between Summer Games is an eternity in which to rev the hype machine into overdrive and turn reasonable expectations into great expectations. As we all know, what often accompanies great expectations are even greater disappointments: hands up everyone who experienced once-in-a-lifetime fun at a turn-ofthe-Millennium bash that was promising all that and more. And then there's the overkill factor. When Oakville's own Adam van Koeverden proudly carries the Canadian flag into Beijing National Stadium next Friday night at the opening ceremonies of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, the air will be thick -- hopefully with anticipation, not smog -- and the CBC will commence coverage that over the ensuing 16 days will total more than 2,400 hours of television, radio programming, and live on-line streaming of events. For the unsavvy, the uninitiated, that's, well, a lot of cover- age. However, compared to NBC, CBC's coverage is a model of restraint with the proud peacock undertaking a whopping 3,600 hours of combined coverage, or what the network modestly calls "the most ambitious single media project in history." Indeed, that's a lot of events under the old media microscope: 302 events to be Andy Juniper exact, covering 28 sports, the majority of which no one on the planet -- with the possible exception of participating athletes, and maybe their mothers -- has given a flying discus about for the last four years. Still, the Games are guaranteed solid ratings, in part because there will be no competition save for Big Brother 24 and Dancing With The Second-Rate Celebrities We're Calling Stars. In the U.S., NBC's network rivals and cable stations have already conceded the August rating's race and are planning to air reruns and the like. Yes, regardless of what's being covered -- from handball to pentathlon to synchronized swimming -- people will tune in, earnestly, obsessively with the big draw projected to be swimming, followed by track and field, gymnastics and (I'm not making this up) beach volleyball. Okay, so there will be viewers. But can the Games live up to the hype as a sporting spectacle, and awesome entertainment? Can the Games succeed in delivering a product that rises above expectations? Will viewers walk away with marvelous memories, or just a bad taste in their mouths? Admittedly, Olympic organizers have their hands full. In a recent article titled, What Could Go Wrong In Beijing: Everything, Slate.com compiled a list of the "potential disasters" that could make the voyage of the Titanic seem smooth in comparison to the Games. The list includes toxic air choking athletes, algae blooms sinking water sports, a possible locust infestation (seriously, I'm not making this up), to the more potentially deadly -- a Tibetan uprising or an all-out terrorist attack. Oh, and then there are all the inevitable, tiresome doping scandals. It's all enough to conflict even the most diehard sports fanatic. Do I go into the Games giddy with anticipation, or quaking with a sense of dread? Andy Juniper can be visited at his Web site, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajuniper@strangledeggs.com