Recently I’ve been trying to work on purchasing more products made here in Canada as opposed to down south or overseas, reason being to help decrease my environmental footprint, as well as to keep my money supporting businesses based in Canada, especially with the tariffs that might be coming in the near future.
I was curious if there were some good tips to help find products made within our borders. Some stuff has been easy, like swapping from Silk to Earth’s Own for example due to labeling on the package that states where the product was manufactured, but other stuff is a bit of a pain since it doesn’t seem to indicate where the product is manufactured or at the very least if it was imported, just where the company’s head office is located.
While my main concern is with groceries since I’ve been trying to purchase more second-hand as of late, I was curious as to what some good all-around tips are for finding Canadian products. I’m willing to spend a little more if needed, I prefer to bank my money in my morals and not in convenience.
By far the best thing you can do, if you have the option, is find an independent grocery or farm store that sources food locally. Compared to the occasional purchase of a blanket or a hammer, grocery shopping is something you’re doing every single week. Eating local reduces your footprint, supports local businesses, and you’ll often find that the prices are actually better. When I started buying my meat from local butchers, I discovered I was paying half as much as I was at the big grocery chains, for meat that was much higher quality. And they’ll source specific cuts for me, cut my steaks to exactly the thickness I want, give me advice on the best ways to cook a certain meat, etc. And buying local produce has again been cheaper, fresher and tastier. I get a lot of my produce straight from the farm where it was grown now, and the difference is just amazing.
Shopping local like this isn’t always possible, but I find that a lot of people just haven’t even bothered to check what options are out there when it comes to good, local, farm to table food. There are also some things that you can just start making at home, if you have the right equipment and a little bit of time (often much, much less than you’d think). I make my own pickles now; I do a batch maybe once every few months, it takes about half an hour, and I get the most delicious pickled vegetables I’ve ever had, at a fraction of grocery store prices. More recently I’ve gotten into making my own beef jerky. Super cheap, incredibly tasty. A sous vide immersion heater (for low effort pickling) and a dehydrator are about a hundred bucks each and basically do all the work for you. That may or may not be a small purchase for you, I get that, but I’m just putting the recommendation out there in case it is a reasonable option for you. You can also try baking at home. If a stand mixer is something you can afford and have space for, there’s really very little work involved. A dough hook does all the kneading for you. If your oven sucks, try baking in a heavy metal casserole dish / Dutch oven; this helped me to make beautiful home made bread even when I had a piece of shit oven that came with my apartment. Also grab some linen bread bags to keep your bread fresh longer. Anyway, you get the picture.
Can I ask which province you live in? In my experience (Southern Ontario, not GTA) local meat is not cheaper (though it’s definitely better quality). Same with locally milled flour and locally grown produce (when in season).
I have tried to support local (and sometimes still do, despite the cost) but I just don’t understand how labour costs in Ontario can be so much higher than labor + shipping for produce from California or Florida or Mexico.
Is it just a bigger markup because there are enough people who are hardcore about buying local here? Is there another factor I’m ignoring?
I don’t live in Ontario anymore, but even when I did I was able to find a couple of farm stores with very reasonably priced local Ontario meat and produce. At the end of the day its going to depend on exactly what your local options are where you live. And to be fair, one of those places closed down shortly before I left, so maybe those reasonable prices weren’t viable.
You are not logged in. However you can subscribe from another Fediverse account, for example Lemmy or Mastodon. To do this, paste the following into the search field of your instance: !canada@lemmy.ca
By far the best thing you can do, if you have the option, is find an independent grocery or farm store that sources food locally. Compared to the occasional purchase of a blanket or a hammer, grocery shopping is something you’re doing every single week. Eating local reduces your footprint, supports local businesses, and you’ll often find that the prices are actually better. When I started buying my meat from local butchers, I discovered I was paying half as much as I was at the big grocery chains, for meat that was much higher quality. And they’ll source specific cuts for me, cut my steaks to exactly the thickness I want, give me advice on the best ways to cook a certain meat, etc. And buying local produce has again been cheaper, fresher and tastier. I get a lot of my produce straight from the farm where it was grown now, and the difference is just amazing.
Shopping local like this isn’t always possible, but I find that a lot of people just haven’t even bothered to check what options are out there when it comes to good, local, farm to table food. There are also some things that you can just start making at home, if you have the right equipment and a little bit of time (often much, much less than you’d think). I make my own pickles now; I do a batch maybe once every few months, it takes about half an hour, and I get the most delicious pickled vegetables I’ve ever had, at a fraction of grocery store prices. More recently I’ve gotten into making my own beef jerky. Super cheap, incredibly tasty. A sous vide immersion heater (for low effort pickling) and a dehydrator are about a hundred bucks each and basically do all the work for you. That may or may not be a small purchase for you, I get that, but I’m just putting the recommendation out there in case it is a reasonable option for you. You can also try baking at home. If a stand mixer is something you can afford and have space for, there’s really very little work involved. A dough hook does all the kneading for you. If your oven sucks, try baking in a heavy metal casserole dish / Dutch oven; this helped me to make beautiful home made bread even when I had a piece of shit oven that came with my apartment. Also grab some linen bread bags to keep your bread fresh longer. Anyway, you get the picture.
Can I ask which province you live in? In my experience (Southern Ontario, not GTA) local meat is not cheaper (though it’s definitely better quality). Same with locally milled flour and locally grown produce (when in season).
I have tried to support local (and sometimes still do, despite the cost) but I just don’t understand how labour costs in Ontario can be so much higher than labor + shipping for produce from California or Florida or Mexico.
Is it just a bigger markup because there are enough people who are hardcore about buying local here? Is there another factor I’m ignoring?
I don’t live in Ontario anymore, but even when I did I was able to find a couple of farm stores with very reasonably priced local Ontario meat and produce. At the end of the day its going to depend on exactly what your local options are where you live. And to be fair, one of those places closed down shortly before I left, so maybe those reasonable prices weren’t viable.