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Ontario or Canadian grown produce being replaced by Chinese produce

Open Letter to Canadian Supermarket CEOs



As Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Canadian-owned and Canadian-based supermarkets, providing consumer goods to Canadian citizens, it is time you began a more conscious and concerted effort to support our Canadian farmers.

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Walking through the aisles of your stores, it is heartwrenching to see that Ontario or Canadian grown produce is frequently either surrounded by foreign imports, or at various times of the year difficult to find. In summer and fall, most supermarkets carry Ontario produce, though not exclusively. However, in winter and early spring, even though Ontario produce such as apples and pears are still available in storage, one sees primarily imported goods. While the majority of these fruits and vegetables originate from the U.S., with some Central and South American countries providing more exotic items, an increasing number are coming from China. These include eggplants, pears, ginger and garlic. Fortunately, in the case of fresh produce, the country of origin is clearly labelled and people can decide whether they wish to purchase it or not. However, such is not the case with apple juice, jams and other processed foods. While their labels read 'Product of Canada', the primary ingredient is increasingly imported, most frequently from China, though also to a much lesser extent from South America. Other agricultural imports from China include walnuts and dried apples sold in bulk, apple slices used in baked goods such as pies and now tomato paste. Much of this change has occurred as supermarkets have centralized their operations, with purchasing carried out by head office. Not so long ago, store managers would purchase produce from local farmers, thus supporting the economy of their community. Now headquarters is turning more and more to imports, with the emphasis on cost. The lower the better. This pressure from your retail sector for cheaper produce, even while the retail price continues to rise, will have very serious ramifications for Canadians in the not too distant future. By chosing imported over domestic goods, in order to save a couple of cents per pound, you are placing in serious jeopardy the viability of many sectors of our agricultural industry. Let us examine one sector in particular. The importation of apple concentrate from China, which now accounts for nearly 90 per cent of the apple juice concentrate used in Canada, is a relatively recent development, going from zero in 2001 to nearly $24 million by 2005. The importation of cheap apple concentrate from China, and previously the U.S., as well as fresh apples from Washington state, already has had several serious repercussions. Between 1995 to 2005, Ontario apple orchards decreased by nearly 25 per cent, down to about 17,000 acres. Though drastic enough, since 1992 the decline has been a staggering 43 per cent. If this rate continues, within twenty years the Ontario apple orchards will be virtually non-existent. This development is not the fault of apple growers. Rather it is the food industry, which seeks to increase its own profit margins at the expense of local farmers, that is to blame for the decline. Every business and employee would like to achieve an annual increase in profits or income. Yet farmers are expected to be willing to accept the same payment today as they received twenty years ago, and this despite the fact that all their expenses have risen during this same period. In the meantime the juice producers, who are paying these low prices, are experiencing steady growths in their profits, on average about 9 per cent annually! Unable to compete against these cheap imports, many farmers are being forced to either cut down their trees and convert the land to other cash crops, or sell it to developers to turn into yet another subdivision. Once lost to cultivation, this land can never be used for agriculture again. Travel around major Canadian cities, especially Toronto, and you will see just how much rich, productive farmland has been lost in the last twenty to thirty years to subdivisions. Unfortunately, this trend will not change anytime soon. Globalization of commerce is the excuse used as explanation or justification for the increased importation of foodstuffs. We are told, that if Canada wants to export its goods abroad, it must be prepared to import as well. There is nothing wrong with importing goods, but not if these same goods can be produced here and to a higher standard. While globalization is the reality today, it should not be used to destroy Canadian farmers for the corporate bottomline. This is a short-sighted policy at best. While apples used in apple juice concentrate from China are cheaper by a few cents per pound, it is actually more costly in other respects. The fact that it is being transported thousands of miles, or halfway around the world, contributes to pollution and all its attendent ills. In addition, it uses a valuable resource, fuel, whose supply is not limitless. Eventually it will run out, even though at present we are told that reserves are sufficient for another fifty years or more. Various supermarkets have started 'green' or 'environmentally friendly' campaigns selling toilet paper or cleaning products bearing this label, in the hope of winning favour with increasingly conscious buyers. One can only wonder how much money is being spent on consultants and experts to try and come up with another green product to offer to the public. Yet an opportunity to really 'go green' and at the same time support Ontario or Canadian farmers, is being totally overlooked. Instead of importing fruits and vegetables from half-way around the world, items which are produced here within a radius of two hundred miles should be featured as the new 'green' alternative. The benefits are manifold. Not only do we produce less pollution transporting from producer to consumer, we are supporting our local farmers and economy and are getting food which has greater flavour, picked as it is near its peak. Out-of-season vegetables and fruits, such as tomatoes and strawberries, which ripen in transit, and not on the vine or tree, are not only tasteless, but probably lack proper nutritional value. There has been a lot of talk about 'fair trade' products, namely concerning coffee and cocoa beans, a campaign which seeks to provide fair compensation to third world farmers for their products. This is long overdue. Some of these same products can now be found in our supermarkets. However, if you think that third world farmers are the only ones in need of fair compensation, you delude yourselves. Canadian farmers also require fair compensation. There are many examples, but one will suffice. For instance, a retail price of $4 for fresh juice provides the farmer only about 10 cents! There is something wrong with this picture when the primary producer, who carries the major burden and costs, nets 10 cents, while the finished retail product costs the consumer 4,000 per cent more! Someone is making a profit here, but it certainly is not the farmer. In other words, he who carries the greatest risk enjoys the least benefit. Without our own farming sector, we will be hostage to the vagaries of foreign imports. Furthermore, what is cheap today, may be expensive down the road when our farmers no longer produce these goods. When that day comes, today's producers of these cheap imports will be able to charge whatever the market will bear. You may think that such an event will never occur. But if present trends continue, such an event is not only possible but inevitable. The old adage 'The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world', should be changed to 'The hand that cultivates the food, rules the world.' Historian, genealogist, political observer / commentator and researcher, as well as photographer, Branka Lapaine received her BA from the University of Toronto; PH.D. from University of London, England. Publisher of The Phoenix, a political publication which ran from 1986 to 1991, she is the author of several booklets (CUSO and Radicalism, etc.) and numerous articles. Branka is also the author of a genealogical guidebook.


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Guest Column Branka Lapajne -- Bio and Archives

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