In times like these, it’s important to support your local businesses. They are the honeybees of our local economies.

On April 15, Canada Takeout launched the National Takeout Day awareness initiative to help restaurants stay in the game. Every Wednesday, they encourage citizens across the nation to order takeout in support of local restaurants.

Plenty of us currently work or have worked in the food service industry. Like many of you, I  have a personal connection to this cause. My family operated a handful of small restaurant businesses for 20 years. As many parts of society entered lockdown and began to adopt social isolation practices, restaurants that depended on foot-traffic business had to ramp up awareness for their take-out and delivery service. I know for sure that my family would have leaned into the turmoils of disruption to figure things out for our restaurants.

I am avidly participating in this weekly cause to enjoy delicious food – of course – and I have also turned it into a creative challenge: I quickly plate my takeout meal and snap a creative photo of it to post on my social feed and tag the brand. Not only is it creatively fulfilling, it also helps me showcase a restaurant I enjoy to my friends in the hopes that they’ll join me in supporting local businesses.

On Wednesdays, we order takeout
It’s only been a few weeks since National Takeout Day was launched, but below are a few of my photos from this challenge. I encourage you to participate.

Pro tip: just have fun with it.