There is an interesting series on food safety in the Globe this week reported by Jessica Leeder and I am following it with rapt attention.  But do Canadians really care?

The whole question of where our food comes from and our import laws seems to be way above the bar that most people leap every day.  The information in these articles is priceless as it covers issues like:

·         Who is inspecting our food?

·         How much of it actually gets inspected? (5%!)

·         Should the inspection standards be different if food is imported from countries with vastly different growing laws and governance? (I think so!)

·         What kind of improvements can and should be made in the traceability of our food

·         Whether or not consumers are willing to pay a premium for that traceability

It’s all very informative.  But I’m confused.  I have a hard enough time convincing people that eggs are good for you and that a glass of red wine is a very different alcoholic beverage choice over rum and Coke.  The things that I have to remind myself are not common sense to everyone have nothing to do with a bar code that my smart phone can read to tell me where my orange was grown. 

I have a hard enough time asking people even to read the Health Canada mandated label on packages and the loopholes to consider that may be affecting their health in adverse ways.  We can’t even discern the crucial facts therein. Are we really ready to worry about the pesticide use in China or South America being much more dangerous than those approved for use here?

I do think Canadians incorrectly assume that their food is safe, that someone is checking or it wouldn’t be on the shelves. It is hard enough convince consumers to purchase that broccoli, cut it themselves, steam it and serve it in great heaping piles.  I’m pretty sure that if most people are going to buy it at all, they are going to look for the cheapest possible stalk.  They are more likely to buy it prepped for them and  frozen regardless of where it was grown, what it was grown in or how long it took to get here.  I’m not saying its right; I am just saying it is.  

So here is the question:

Does the country of origin of your food matter to you and will you pay more to a) know about it and b) have your government check it more thoroughly?

Comments

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Racheal 2010-11-22 00:02:48 Yes, origin matters! We always go out of our way (and often will suck it up and pay more) to buy local produce and products. I appreciate our local farmers far more than some factory in a foreign land -they have a vested interest in our community as well as our economy.

rarified air theresa albert 2010-11-22 00:14:05 I agree it matters and am the same as you but I worry that I/we live in a rarified air. We, and likely everyone who reads this blog, cares b/c we cn afford to and are informed. But what about the other people you know?

do I care bonnie clark 2010-11-22 00:19:58 yes Theresa the older I get the more I care about where our food comes from and how safe it is. I know sometimes it is more expensive to buy locally but healthwise sometimes pound foolish may be the way to go. More and more of my friends (I am 69) are cooking, entertaining and eating predominantly local foods.

Yay! theresa albert 2010-11-22 00:22:46 I am so happy to hear that! I worry most about those on a fixed income like my mom. She cares and tries but can she afford to? Not always.

Middle ground? Ally Ferguson 2010-11-22 00:56:28 I care! Well, I care-ish. I want to know if it's local or not, and I want it clearly described whether "local" means my province, my country or my continent. If it's not an acceptable version of local, I don't care if it came from China, India or outer space. I think identifying foods as local (where that word has a definite government-mandated meaning) rather than having an expensive traceability program in place might make sense. I'm curious about your comment about frozen foods though -- while I totally agree that "prepared" frozen foods complete with sodium-laden sauces or preservatives are not a good plan, I'd rather have plain veg frozen at it's peak of freshness rather than "fresh" foods from half a world away that took a month to make it to the store.

Frozen is fine! theresa albert 2010-11-22 01:00:27 I agree, frozen can be just as good as fresh nutritionally. It was the paying extra for the service of cleaning and cutting vs the extra $ to know and control the source, I was getting at.

Oh I get it! Ally Ferguson 2010-11-22 01:09:16 I really hadn't thought of it that way, as trading off between one "service" or another. I guess, if there's a limited pool of resources (I mean, people really will only pay so much) I'd rather see it allocated to inspection and enforcement (i.e. making sure products which claim to be organic and local really ARE) than complete transparency to the consumer. And I'd hate to see people who have trouble eating healthfully due to their income or location (low income urban area don't have a lot of grocery stores for example) be deprived of choices, you know?

Laura 2010-11-22 02:51:34 I care as much as I can afford. When peaches are in season locally we eat a 4quart every other day, easily. When they start to get expensive, we stop, regardless of origin. This makes it hard to eat healthy in the off season. While we take advantage of local food when available, price is my bottom line. This morning I filled my reusable grocery bag with persimmons, pomagranite and grapefruit. None locally available, but cheap and healthy and in stores now. My two cents.

I care as much as i can afford theresa albert 2010-11-22 06:30:33 I love that! It is so true, the dollar only goes so far as does each person's access to information. I think you are on to something there...it is the balance.

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