We attract supermarkets.
When we first came to live in the neighbourhood, there was only a Loblaws. Then came Food Basic and Shoppers Drug Mart, right across the road from Loblaws. And when we came back from travelling this winter, we discovered that a huge Walmart had popped up on the other side of the road. We now have three supermarkets within a 20-minute walk.
And then came the dilemma. Oh, it’s a first-world dilemma, I know. I feel bad about it. But the question remains—where should we shop?
For non-Canadians (or non-Ontarians), this is how it goes. Loblaws is a bit of a fancy supermarket and is more expensive than Food Basics, a no-frill superstore. You can easily see why Food Basics is cheaper—the store is not as clean, the decor is kept to a minimum and there are fewer employees (and longer line-ups at the cash register). As for Walmart… well, everybody knows Walmart or at least has heard of it—the largest grocery retailer in the United States is often criticized for predatory pricing, drawing customers away from other smaller businesses and bad employee and labour relations (including low wages, poor working conditions, gender discrimination and strong anti-union policies). Oh, and let’s not forget about the famous peculiar side of the store, the people of Wal-Mart!
Basically, shopping at Walmart goes against all my beliefs. It’s a no-brainer. There is a cost to pay for these low prices.
So the first time I went on a scout mission to the new Wal-Mart, I was dead-set on not buying anything. You know, I ain’t supporting the evil empire.
Except I quickly realized the obvious—Walmart is cheap, much cheaper than my fancy Loblaws across the road. A can of lemon and pepper seasoned tuna is 97 cents at Walmart and $1.47 at Loblaws. It’s the exact same can: same brand, same everything. I grabbed a couple of cans and surreptitiously put them in my basket. I still ain’t supporting the evil empire, I’m just… you know, taking advantage of a deal. Rice, crackers, bread, semolina and yogurt were also cheaper and ended up in my basket as well.
And suddenly, I realized I had become one of them. A Walmart customer. Shame on me.
Alright. I’m not buying my clothes at Wal-Mart, I don’t browse around the store eating a double-cheese burger bought at the MacDonald’s conveniently located at the entrance of the store and I don’t drink cans of beer outside the store at 9 a.m. That makes me feel marginally better.
Still, I feel terrible for shopping at Walmart. But at the same time, I feel like an idiot spending more money on the exact same products at Loblaws, just to make a point. And it’s not like Loblaws is a workers’ heaven either. In fact, I strongly suspect the chain is not much more ethical than Walmart.
Grocery shopping is tricky. Even though I’m lucky enough not to live paycheck to paycheck, I don’t want to spend too much on food. I cook pretty much all of my meals and brown-bag to work so I mostly need staples such as vegetables, bread, dairy products, rice, pasta etc. I’m not a vegetarian but I eat very little meat. I wish I could only eat local, natural organic “green” and ethically-produced food but frankly, specialty shops like Herbs and Spice are simply too expensive.
What I should do is to take advantage of farmer markets more. Contrary to popular belief, summer does exist in Canada and as soon as there is no more snow on the ground (i.e. May), markets pop up across the city—the Byward Market, Little Italy, Landsdown Park, Parkdale… It’s a good chance to stock up on fruits, vegetables, cheese and other local products such as maple syrup and honey. For that, I don’t mind paying a little bit more if I know quality is good.
How about you? Where do you shop? What’s more important to you, quality, low prices…?
Very interesting posting about the food dilemma! My wife and I like to shop at Costco, we find it cheaper than most stores and the employees seem to earn more and be happier there. The only drawback is that they only sell big packages, not individual products; but the savings are amazing.
Here in New Brunswick there are farmers who sell vegetable bundles every week during the summer, it is a great way to by local organic produce but usually it is only worth it if you have a family of 4 or more. For a couple like us it is too much food.
Portion it and freeze it!
Or find another couple with whom you could share…
I visited a Costco a while ago but I found it wasn’t for us, since everything is sold in bulk. Costco customers rave about it though, maybe I’m missing something!
I wish we had more farmers markets here even though it would likely be too much food for us as well. I’m telling you, it’s a dilemma!
I’m the dream customer of every gourmet shop. I walk pass it, wanting to ignore it. But I can’t. And so I tell myself “it looks so fancy, just go in and walk around and see what exotic foodies they sell over there”. I don’t take a shopping bag. I’m not buying anything. “Oh wait, is that spanish tuna?” – and there it begins…
No, seriously? I usually shop in a good supermarket because I like my vegetables to be tasty, my fruits to be sweet and the meat and fish to be fresh. And then, when temptation wins over again, I’ll go to a gourmet shop to buy those little things that make my day like “fleur de sel”, pink pepper or an extraordinary italian/spanish oil.
But then, most of my monthly money usually goes on food anyways… hehe
I like specialty shops too! We often go to Chinese supermarkets, in Little Italy or in other alternative shops. Great for spices, sauces, cookies, cakes etc. but I wouldn’t do the bulk of my shopping here because it’s expensive. I also spend a lot of food… we are Europeans my friend, we like food!
You’ve been sucked in and will end up being somebody’s check mark on a Walmart bingo card!!
Its easy to criticize Walmart but they do offer good values on a lot of stuff but at what cost overall is what I wonder about.
I know Wal Mart is bad. What I’m wondering is whether other supermarkets are more ethical… and I doubt it.
Firstly, I don’t think it is a 1st world problem, I think that there are some global implications involved in this question.
Secondly, I think that we have more or less the same ideas on the topic and as you, I keep asking myself questions about my shopping choices.
I haven’t bought anything in McDonald’s for 8 years. Not because their food is bad (which it is, but once in a while, I wouldn’t care), but because it is the ultimate symbol of all that is bad in American capitalism. Similarly, I haven’t boycotted Tesco, the English version of Wal-Mart, for 3 years. Oh! they do sell Irish products and ceate employment, but at what price? The worse is that I actually like their supermarkets! However, even though Tesco is cheaper, I don’t think the price difference is as important as what you mention. I must admit, I shop a fair bit in Lidl, but they are not as evil as Tesco. I get the basic products there and then buy a few brand products in my corner shop (they have actually brought down their prices a lot and are quite affordable for certain products). It’s a tricky one and not everybody has the time to go to buy this product here and that one there. I know that I pay a lot of attention to the provenance: if the kiwis are from Italy, fine, but if they are from Chile, I’ll eat apples instead.
So, I don’t know what to tell you. Get a big freezer, buy loads of veg at the market during the summer, make soup and freeze it!
I used to boycott a lot of things back when I was French. It’s a bit harder in North America, you can have principles but it may not be very practical or very logical actually. I still don’t like Wal Mart. But are other supermarkets better, more ethical? I don’t think so. Wal Mart is an easy target. A big one, granted. But not the only bad guy around.
In Canada, we have to import a lot otherwise we would pretty much starve during winter (which is about 6-month long). Unfortunately, I can’t just live on soup during the winter 😉
I agree to eating imported products… to a certain extent. As you say, sometimes you just don’t have the choice. At the moment, I am fighting another problem: food waste in my household. My new housemate doesn’t seem to have a notion: she buys an cooks far more than she needs. Results: half of it ends up in the bin; whole meals at times. I’ve already rescued a dozen bananas from the bin the other day. They were slightly bruised, but perfect inside. And today I saved some carrots that she had put in my kitchen compost bin. Ok, I had to cut the extremities, but it made a lovely purée. The problem, is that I can’t rescue everything like that, so the pizza, sausages, tuna, noodles, and so on and so on, had to stay in the bin 🙁
I hate wasting food and we rarely throw things away. That’s the good side of taking a pack lunch to work, I get to eat left-overs if we have any! And I really don,t mean eating the same thing twice in a row.
I had to throw away some veggies a few times because the inside was rotten, or a couple of salami slices that had been there for too long (I don’t want to get sick!) but I think we throw very little compared to most households.
Same here. Zhu, I just can’t uderstand it, it drives me crazy. I mean I have the feeling she cooks for the principle of it and just throw it in the bin after. I have actually talked to her. If she doesn’t want to eat the can of tuna she has just opened, she can give it to me rather than throw it away. I’ve tried to expained that there’s no point to waste food, that I’ll use it and that there are people starving in the world. I thought she had understood, but I rescued more apples with a tiny brown spot on them the following day. I don’t know what to do. Any idea?
I’m actually thinking of putting a picture of a starving child above the bin!
I’m going to speak like a French… C’est une question d’éducation!
Maybe she should adjust her shopping if she doesn’t cook/eat much at home. Things go bad eventually, like yesterday I had to throw away a couple of slices of bread I had left because they had mold all over. It sucks, I don’t like throwing away but I really had to.
But she has to accept things are not perfect: yes, in the summer, bananas can get brownish very fast, same goes for a lot of veggies. Suck it up, cook them (it tastes exactly the same!). I don’t think the picture of a starving child will help unfortunately, she probably doesn’t even think of that and it’s not a very effective way. Guilt-tripping her doesn’t make her understand… maybe offer her a “cook with left-over” book? I’m sure she has a limited budget as well, tell her she is wasting her money maybe?
Loblaws out here is via the President’s Choice label and I know that Jimmy Pattison owns it at least out in BC where it’s called SaveOn Foods, but there is also Real Canadian Foods and Extra Foods. He’s known for being the biggest jerk in the world to his employees and treating them horribly. Try convincing me it’s better than Walmart??? He owns many companies too including car dealerships and radio broadcasting corporations. I’m not convinced the least bit he’s any better with an empire like that. We shop there because it’s a 3 minute walk away from our house and we don’t have to drive anywhere. I love their produce, like their deals, the location and friendly staff. Their meet, I have heard horror stories about so… We shop there with Caution along with Safeway.
We like a fancier store out here for meats because they are quality and we can rely on their expiration dates. We also have some local places that we frequent but I never seem to find farmers markets that often. I even attempted to go to one the other day but it was not in season enough to be open! DOH!
I shop at Walmart for dish soap, toilet paper, detergent and baby anything because I know I don’t have to worry about paying a higher marked up price for needing it every day. They are the only store that keeps their price normal unlike the other stores that give you it on sale for Walmart’s price once a month. I’m sort of over that!
In the end, I’m not loyal to anyone. But if you treat me well, I’ll come back. I try to support Canadian and local, but in the end are the corporations going to care if you are broke? I think not!
meat – not meet..lol
I agree with you and shop pretty much the same way. I try my best to go to independent grocery stores, coffee shops, bookstores etc. But I still do the bulk of my shopping in chain supermarkets, for convenience and cost reason. No one is perfect…
Fun lapsus!
i read a story about walmart that said they might be able to “save” local producers who are otherwise being squeezed out of the market by large corporate farms. walmart is such a smart marketer- they *know* people prefer fresh local produce, so that is what they buy, from local producers. if you look, there is probably little difference in price between walmart and loblaws in fresh produce.
and that is where i am most apt to shop– the store that has the best produce.
i am like you- i avoid walmart. the store is too big. it takes too long to park and shop.
i’d probably shop loblaws for most of my groceries. for things like clothing detergent, paper towels (non-grocery items), i’d probably use the food basics for the lower prices. and i’d avoid walmart altogether.
fyi: for ‘big box’ stores, i love costco the best.
p.s. i read once that a person got the interest rate on his visa raised for shopping at walmart. the bank reasoned that he shopped at upscale stores in the past, so the fact that he was now shopping at walmart surely meant that he was having financial difficulties. so the bank raised the amount of interest he had to pay to compensate for the perceived ‘risk’ they were taking.
maybe it is better to get mad at the m,ajor banks than to get mad at walmart?
The interest rate story is crazy! Seriously, banks should mind their own business. This is totally not professional… not accurate.
Fresh products are actually much cheaper at Wal-Mart. It’s not even close… unfortunately. I go to the market as much as I can but I hate spending $2 for an avocado at Loblaws when I can buy it for 67 cents ate Wal Mart. It makes me feel bad but there is no reason for me to subsidize Loblaws, which isn’t much more ethical and Wal Mart.
I’m pretty anti-Walmart, for all the reasons you listed. I definitely look for the cheap prices, but I prefer to look for them at super markets that are more ethical. Then again, other supermarkets are closer to my house than Walmart is, so I get a bit of a break. I’m a big fan of farmer’s markets in the summer too.
I don’t think you’re a real Walmart-er yet, you definitely don’t fit in with the other people who shop there 🙂
😆 I think Wal Mart in Canada are slightly more… er… normal than Wal Mart in the US.
I try to balance ethical and cost/convenience… not always easy to do!
It’s interesting how things are different in western Canada. We have the expenisve and smaller Safeway, the oldest of the supermarkets here (and American). Save-On-Foods is owned by local billionaire business guru Jim Pattison. And then we have the huge Real Canadian Superstore, which, I just learned is owned by Loblaws. Wal-Mart has only one store here I think, so is not as popular. IGA is another one.
Wal Mart is still not popular in Ottawa, we only have three and none is really busy. We had the Real Canadian Superstore… huge indeed but somewhat expensive, same as Loblaws (well, it is the same company).
I don’t know any supermarket chains in Quebec, it is really different from one province to another! Let alone Western Canada…!
There’s two grocery stores that are accessible to me here in Buffalo, Wegmans and Tops. Most of the time, I go to Wegmans. The quality is higher, and I have a feeling that it is more expensive too, although they make a good job in advertising to customers that they have the cheapest products. But perhaps I only find it more expensive because they carry more varied food items than Tops: I can get brie in Wegmans for example, but not in Tops.
Now I am still a student, which means that my income isn’t that great, which means that the cheaper a product is, the better. I have this idea that cheap goods doesn’t necessarily mean that the quality is bad. One just needs to select carefully.
Same here, I use my own judgement and pick stuff here and there. I buy cheap basic stuff, like can tuna, corn etc. but I can splurge for good cheese (this is one thing I’d never buy at Wal Mart!).
Ontario’s peaches are still on my mind <3
If I remember well Loblaw employees' are unionised but that doesn't mean much …
I know I'm a bad person but I LOVE walmart, in fact everytime I'm back in North America I just have to go to one!
We've just decided to eat more organic food so we'll see how it goes finance-wise!
Organic food is super expensive here… that’s too bad. I try to buy it once in a while, lettuce, tomatoes etc. But it’s twice the price!
I’m increasingly cultivating this habit of eating fresh produce from places like Kensington market in Toronto. Also, I find the concept of eating raw food increasingly appealing because you need to eat higher volume of cooked food to get a feeling of fullness, and cooking is not only a waste of time and energy, but also reduces nutrition. When was the last time I went to a supermarket? don’t know!
Walmart?? Nooo comrade, you know their food is subsidied by the profits from other departments right?
I know, I know… I feel bad…
I go to the market a lot in the summer and I do eat a lot of raw food these days because it’s so hot. That said, I can’t imagine living on a raw food diet during the winter… I’d be freezing, I need my soup and cooked stuff!
In Lyon, it’s more easy to avoid supermarkets than in Montréal (as I said before). Every week, I’ve got a (cheap) local and organic basket of fruits and vegetables (11 euros for 5/6 kind of vegetables + 6 euros for 4 kinds of fruits in summer). Same thing goes for eggs and poultry. I’m buying my cheese and meat (rarely) at a local store and all the grocery stuff (pastas, rice, flour…) at either organic shops (like “la vie claire”) or italian shops. And the good part is that I’m no even paying that much for all that. I know it’s harder in Canada, unfortunately :(. You should checked a system of organic baskets, I know there are some in Ontario!
Yes, I’m looking into it right now but I’m afraid it will be way too much food for the two of us, even though we are not picky.
I completely understand your dilemma. When I lived in Canada I shopped at Superstore (owned by Loblaws, but the discount version) but tried to buy most of my produce from farmers markets on the weekends. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but one I could live with.
It’s funny because here, I find the real Canadian Superstore more expensive than Loblaws!
Glad to see I’m not the only one stuck in the dilemma.
Truth is that Wal-Mart simply gets more press, but that doesn’t mean that the other corporations are saints. Also, Wal-Mart in Canada is not the same as in the US. The customers are not that same, since Wal-Mart is more popular in Canada and doesn’t attract as many redneck customers like it does down in the states.
It’s true that Wal-Mart in Canada is monopolizing the retail market, since Canadians don’t have as many options as Americans do.
Thank you for taking the time to comment!
I completely agree with you. Wal Mart is a well-known target, easy to blame and well, it’s not a very ethical company. But it doesn’t mean others are much better.
We don’t have as many “People of Wal Mart” stereotypes here, that’s true!