“Our most challenging category to mitigate the threat of retaliatory tariffs is produce where in Canada, in the winter, we do not always have viable alternatives,”
I know it won’t happen overnight but let’s get some Mexican produce lined up for next winter. They are being hit by tariffs too.
And it’s also time for more hothouse produce. Stop exporting our energy to the enemy and use it here to feed ourselves.
There's also these guys Canadian Grown Bananas who are out of Ontario.
There's lots of microgreen producers throughout Alberta if that's your thing and take a look for CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture) in your area.
I know it's definitely not feasible for everyone but even switching out ONE product at a time is what we need.
Do what you can with what you have.
There is this company who started growing bananas on the north shore of Montréal. Their initial testing went very well and they are planning on increasing their production right now. Very interesting stuff.
That’s super cool. I’d absolutely spend extra for Montreal bananas.
My home province of BC has been doing pretty good at growing stuff in hothouses, I’ve even routinely buying local lettuce and peppers and mushrooms from big stores like Costco even before the boycott started.
So we can do this. It will take some time to ramp up and getting imports from allies will help with us this transition period and beyond.
Yes! Now is the time to make deals with Mexico and other countries south of the border”basement”. Let’s prepare for next winter!
Went to a Loblaws run store today. Told the cashier that the bag of chips I bought were Canadian and didnt have the leaf icon on the label. Her response: "so what?". I explained I was just letting someone at the store know amd I completely understand it isnt her job. She responded sarcastically 'obviously'. I then asked who I should let know. She said 'if you really care go to costumer service'.
Needless to say, I will be going to Sobeys from now on. Fuck Loblaws.
Cashier was rude but to be fair your first stop probably should have been that customer service counter or one of the crisp white-shirted store managers if you spot them on the floor.
I have to ask - how did you think a cashier can help with your request?
I’m not trying to be a jerk here, but cashiers are pretty low on the corporate ladder at Loblaws. If you knew it wasn’t their job, what were you looking for and what did you want in response?
I don’t shop at Loblaws. We’ve been shopping locally since the boycott last May.
But one of the things worth considering is what we expect of each other. Was one person’s rudeness reflective of everyone else who works somewhere?
There are so many way we can work together to make our communities and country stronger. Not shopping at Loblaws can be one of them. But for this reason? I’m sorry, it just seems strained and unusual.
Edited to remove racist euphemism.
That totem pole phrase needs to die as it’s racist and inaccurate. Some chiefs lower on the totem pole are actually higher ranking.
You’re right. My bad. Will edit.
I’m not trying to be a jerk here, but cashiers are pretty low on the totem pole at Loblaws.
Arrrg! What a missed opportunity for low on the food chain
OK I'll see myself out...
You’re right though and I should not have used “totem pole”. Old habits..
I get it. I was just trying to figure out who to tell and was really taken aback by the defensive response. Ive run into a number of rude cashiers at this place as well, so Im venting somewhat.
My main concern is their high prices, poor quality, and general disregard for their customers. As the previous commenter pointed out, theyre setting up barriers everywhere to prevent shoplifting. One Loblaws place I go to has a grand total of two checkout stands left and only one cashier at a time. Theyre pushing self checkout hard which is just an excuse to downsize their staff. Meanwhile if you want to go to the bathroom you have to literally reenter the store because its past the barriers.
No other supermarket around here has these damn things and they arent pushing self checkout. Thats not to say places like Sobeys are ethical either. But at least they dont go out of their way to seem like they hate their own customers.
I’m with you on all those points. Loblaws is theft of a different kind and to your most important point: these stores have made it impossible for smaller stores to exist - so I also get that you might not have a choice.
And thanks for responding so kindly. Appreciate you.
My perspective here, to share, is that I don’t understand the hard time others are having. Not that I can’t understand - but rather that I am not in their shoes. I’ve been trying to cut all workers slack because they’re also trapped in a system and we’re powerful if we stick together - so forgive me if I also forgot to empathize with you.
Fuck Loblaws, but don't expect Sobeys to be better at properly labeling Canadian products. The number of Canadian made products, by Canadian owned businesses that don't have the little maple leaf tag next to them is very questionable in its own right. American brands selling the same product types have been getting the label, though, which is highly suspect.
Just assume those little stickers have been paid for at any big chain.
Oh, you mean like this? (Taken at FreshCo, owned by Sobeys)
Oh for sure. But if both stores dont care and only one berates me for even asking about it, makes the decision of where to go easy.
Totally. Sobeys also hasn't thrown up any plexiglass mazes, at least around here. That was the last time I ever stepped foot in a Lowblaws.
I've heard about a neat thing some shoppers are doing; if you check a product and see it's from the US, turn it upside down, with the label showing point of origin facing out. Do the same for two or three more of that product on the shelf. Helps others see what to avoid.
That's actually pretty clever. Make it obvious people have already looked at it and put it back. Even if someone doesn't care about the place of origin, there's kind of a subconscious effect as well of "there's something wrong with that one"
Oh no! Anyways.
Their quality of food is trash anyways so good for our health.
Ya I don't trust the FDA at all.
I read a paper recently while doing some research in my field. In Québec, a majority of food issues such as bacteria and unwanted contamination comes from the US while it’s a minority of the food that we import.
I’m on my phone and I’m pretty tired to find the source, but I read that about 6 months ago
It feels like we get so many recalls of US produce in Ontario due to salmonella. Typically, it's the salad greens like lettuce and whatnot, but it seems very frequent.
Yeah my job is translating FDA announements for Japanese clients and I see recalls for US products quite often, so I had to text my family in Canada to make sure they aren't buying such products. I guess that won't be necessary though, because my family isn't buying any US trash anymore.
Thats neat! I have a friend that works for Jamieson regulatory affairs, they read claims on new products and make sure they comply with our standards. I took a course a while back and we were told that in the states the burden of proof of a claim was on the FDA but in canada the regulations are much more strict, thats why a lot of products never make it over the boarder. Its pretty wild actually, thats why I said I don't trust the FDA at all.
One of the complaints from the 'Make america Healthy Again' crowd is that the FDA needs to be doing what Canada and the EU are doing in terms of food safety and consumer protection.
Trump's regime sure is a contradictory blob of nuts and weirdos.
IIRC the E. Coli in lettuce is from California and something about the produce farms being downstream from the animal farms, and all the fecal run off into the water.
They use waste water to grow their food sometimes. Because of the lack of water, they do very simple extraction of the waste (physical and a little bit of chemical, but not biological) and thus the chances of bacteria such as E. coli are very high in their farms. That’s why they use so much pesticides as well.
That’s one of the reasons I’ll never buy American bio food, I don’t trust the water they use to be safe.
Yeah, you really don't want to see the insides of places like meat processing plants here.
Ops right, our food really is trash.
Earlier this week I walked to three different grocery stores to find some diet cola because the only things the first two had in stock were Coke and Pepsi. Never thought there'd be a shortage of store-brand diet cola.
That's so funny!
Back in the day, Cott was the #1 pop brand in Canada because they were the private label manufacturer for President's Choice cola. I remember because they also sold their own branded pop in Fields. Cott's Beverage got sold off somewhere, and more private label pop bottlers have taken the crown, but there is no reason why some of these pl bottlers couldn't start a house brand.
We are entering an era when the new Cott's Cola might outsell Coca Cola because it's the Canadian alternative.
As an American, please keep that shit up. I'm rooting for you. We fucking deserve it.
Please consider making Ohio the 11th province by any means necessary. 🙏
Pretty sure Minnesota asked first, you'll have to settle for something between 12th and 17th
Why would we want Ohio?
Washington and Oregon aren't bad though
Cedar Point is awesome!
Cause and effect!
Keep it up, folks!
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I'm drinking Old Fashioneds with all sorts of Canadian whiskies lately.
Is it as good? Not quite*, but it's still good and I'll be drinking them long after this shit show is over. I would love to see some better Canadian options though.
Good. Keep boycotting our stuff as we deserve it. Make our economy crash because of our dumbfuck President wants to ruin our lives by being greedy.
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