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An older couple in Beaverton, Ontario finds it challenging to buy small quantities of local Canadian produce at their grocery store. Most produce is only offered in bulk sizes that are too large for their household of two people and often leads to waste. While they want to support local farmers, the formats available do not meet their needs. There is a growing number of smaller households that would benefit from alternative packaging options.

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32 views3 pages

ProQuestDocuments-2023-09-05 S

An older couple in Beaverton, Ontario finds it challenging to buy small quantities of local Canadian produce at their grocery store. Most produce is only offered in bulk sizes that are too large for their household of two people and often leads to waste. While they want to support local farmers, the formats available do not meet their needs. There is a growing number of smaller households that would benefit from alternative packaging options.

Uploaded by

shinta nasution
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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When buying local produce, quantity can be an

issue; Older people and single Millenials are looking


for alternatives to bulk packaging, which often leads
to waste
Martin, Diana

ProQuest document link

FULL TEXT
Beaverton -Laurie Weston does his best to buy local and Canadian produce during his daily trips to the grocers but
it's challenging.
Weston said he and his wife don't need the large quantities in which Canadian produce is presented in his local
grocery store, but the smaller sized options are more often than not from the United States.
"I have no need to buy five or 10 pounds (of vegetables,)" he said. "Because I'm a conscientious cook, I like to buy
fresh and I hate to throw away money and food."
Weston wanted some answers and posed this question to Ontario Farmer: "Why can I only buy American product in
the quantity I want? Why can I not buy Canadian produce in that quantity?" There are a growing number of small,
one to three people households within Canada as Millennials struggle with low wages and higher cost of living
issues than the generations before them. The population is simultaneously ageing, which is producing a number of
single or couple households which volume-based food packaging doesn't serve.
Rural communities are often served by one, sometimes two grocery stores both of which may lack bulk produce
options offered in their urban counterparts.
Weston and his wife moved to the Beaverton area permanently several years ago from Toronto. When the Westons
used their home as a summer cottage, they didn't notice the disparity in available produce options because they
were cooking for their children.
Now Weston's grocery needs have diminished and their desire to support local farmers has increased.
"I'm not sure I was aware of it in the city when I had more supermarket choices," Weston said. "For people that are
buying for one or two people they just need those options."
Weston said he visits his grocery store daily, running down the meat and fish aisle, looking for the best deals on
fresh protein, he then decides what kind of side will accompany the dinner.
Sometimes it's potatoes - two or three white for french fries, two or three yellow for mashed - and some fruit for
dessert. In season, the fruit isn't as much of a hardship to find, but still, the volume peaches and tender fruit is sold
in often leads to waste, which Weston is keenly aware of.
"But it's also I think there's a whole bunch of issues involved," he said, "There's the economics and the fact that
people don't really want to waste food."
The amount of packaging waste is a sticking point for him. He said filling his grocery bag with cello wrap and
styrofoam is as frustrating as trying to find bulk options of locally produced food.
Jane Proctor, Canadian Produce Marketing Association vice-president of policy and issue management, said
packaging and plastic use is very much on the radar of all levels of government as well as on a global scale.
Proctor said there will be changes coming down the pipe in all industries regarding packaging waste in the very near
future.
"There is a huge, huge commitment within Canadian retail, I think in retail in general,... to, whenever possible, have

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local products," she said. "I'm talking from the largest retailers right on down, they're very committed to that. But
again you can only sell what's available."
She said the way to influence what is available at your local shop and in which format it appears is to have a
conversation with the produce manager or at the very least the general manager of the grocery shop.
There can be the perception by shoppers that items will be available year-round, she said, but there are a number of
factors which impact availability. Most often availability swings on whether there was a devastating loss in a
particular growing region which triggers a higher demand within Canada and internationally. A storage crop could
use up all their items as they near the beginning of the new season depending on their yield the previous year,
demand and storage capabilities.
"The reality is that you only store produce for so long, and you only have so much and if the demand is high.. ." said
Proctor. "There's so many factors that affect availability almost on a dayto-day basis."
Building a relationship with the produce manager, or the manager of any sector in the local grocery store, especially
in a rural area where store selection is limited, works for both sides.
"There's no reason not to start developing that relationship," she said. "You can influence, you can have those
conversations, maybe get an understanding of when the produce will be available, or how it's going to be available."
CREDIT: Diana Martin;Ontario Farmer

DETAILS

Business indexing term: Subject: Grocery stores; Industry: 44511 : Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except
Convenience) Stores

Subject: Food; Grocery stores

Location: United States--US; Canada

Company / organization: Name: Canadian Produce Marketing Association; NAICS: 813910

Identifier / keyword: weston; local; canadian; produce; during

Publication title: Ontario Farmer; London

First page: A.13

Publication year: 2019

Publication date: Sep 10, 2019

Section: News

Publisher: Postmedia Network Inc.

Place of publication: London

Country of publication: Canada, London

Publication subject: Agriculture

ISSN: 11993529

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Source type: Magazine

Language of publication: English

Document type: News

ProQuest document ID: 2287811016

Document URL: https://www.proquest.com/magazines/when-buying-local-produce-quantity-can-be-


issue/docview/2287811016/se-2?accountid=17242

Copyright: Copyright Postmedia Network Inc. Sep 10, 2019

Last updated: 2022-10-22

Database: ProQuest One Business

Database copyright  2023 ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved.

Terms and Conditions Contact ProQuest

PDF GENERATED BY PROQUEST.COM Page 3 of 3

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