Where Do YOU buy your groceries?
Yesterday I completed a phone survey. I do survey's because they are how I paid for my college diploma and later on they allowed me to finish my master's thesis. I owe a debt there--not to survey companies but to any poor sod who has to do that as a job. I've been there. But after completing this survey (yes it took over ten minutes of my time and the poor person was obviously new to the job) I realized something interesting: I don't shop at my favorite store for meats and produce. Why? Because they don't stock enough local and organic fruits and vegetables. They've got a great selection but it's largely not organic. And because of this--because I want to purchase organic foods and produce--I shop at the grocery chain that provides them for my other foods. The surveyer was baffled. She had no room for this on her survey and kept insisting it was because the grocery store was convenient. No--convenience has nothing to do with it. There is another chain store closer to me actually. I shop there because I can get organic foods (we actually argued twice about this). I've been thinking about this survey a lot. Other things popped up as I answered questions--how little I shop at deli counters, bakery sections and frozen food sections (all because I bake all bread/pastries within my house and make all meals from fresh foods). Then I got to thinking about other aisles I can completely breeze past in grocery stores: household cleaners/detergents. Why? Because I buy all natural cleaners and laundry soaps at a natural food store. And even though I own two dogs and two cats I whip past the pet food aisle. Why? Because after having two cats develop Irritable Bowel Syndrome and cancers in the intenstinal tract from the preservatives in packaged pet foods and a German Shepherd who can not process anything that isn't fresh I feed mainly fresh raw or cooked foods to my pets. [It's been over 18 years that I've watched the impact on my cats (and 10 on my dogs)--I firmly believe that cats and dogs are experiencing on a more intense level the ravages of preservatives and chemicals in foods within their bodies.]
An article on Loblaws recently mentioned that the grocery giant is again facing a decline--unable to compete against Wal-Mart and other big box stores such as Costco it has struggled to keep up--deciding hazily to also stock clothing and household items. But that is not working. But it has created a whole middle section of a store I quickly zip past. And so for me the grocery store--once the staple of the weekly trip--has become a building that houses only 1/10th of what I wish to purchase. Am I the norm? I don't think so. I do think the majority are going to big box retailers and buying their pre-packaged foods in bulk. But I don't think it helps a chain like Loblaws that the rest of us are being a little choosier--getting our natural detergents and cleaners elsewhere and finding other smaller natural food outlets for our other choices. Certainly I believe there is a slow change coming in grocery stores from both ends. The big box buyer versus the local/organic buyer. It will be interesting to see who wins.
In some sense it is a snapshot of the bigger battle between the environment and our economy. Me? I'm being selective and voting with my feet. One small step at a time.
Friday, November 03, 2006
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1 comments:
Well, since you ask:
I live in Kanata, which until fairly recently has been a wasteland of big box grocery chains. However, in the past few years a number of alternatives have popped up.
A Farm Boy anchors a very convenient shopping centre around the corner, which also includes an LCBO, a Bulk Barn, and a little chocolates boutique, so covers all the food groups. Farm Boy prices often beat Loblaws, is my impression, and they label the origin of their products, and often offer organic and/or local produce and dairy, and have a nice corner with artisan breads from Montreal and Toronto. They don't do Seventh Generation cleaning products yet. Across the street is a new organic store which is on my list to explore soon.
I now include Pinewood Farms when it fits into my daily travels: they do apples and apple cider - not quite organic but it's difficult to do orcharding without some pesticides and they say they try to keep to about 20% of what the big operations use. They also have a swap arrangement with local farms, so there is produce on offer. Dusty's Market, near Hazeldean & Terry Fox sometimes also fits in with buzzing around on the bike.
If I'm downtown, there's the Herb & Spice which does carry Seventh Generation, and the local organic market which used to operate near Bank & Heron but I think they're looking for new digs. If you want nuts, the Ottawa Roastery at the foot of Kilborn does fresh roasted nuts of all kinds. We checked out the Lansdowne local market this summer, which was maybe little pricy, but had a wide selection of basic and artisan products and apparently a rule against reselling. And WheatBerry over on Main St. offers a wide range of prepared vegetarian products such as Soyarie cutlets and seitan-based dinners.
It's pretty easy to find Fair Trade coffee almost anywhere these days - even Almonte has one, but not, surprisingly, my bit of Kanata. But there's a Bridgehead next to MEC, and across the street from Herb&Spice downtown.
Even tbe Bulk Barn offers some organic products such as breakfast cereals, soy beverages, and some hard-to-find things like real saffron. Though it is a pretty schizoid operation when you look round and see mountains of candy, they are at least trying to provide some sugar-free sweets for diabetic kids.
I don't think I've been to Loblaws once this year.
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