I love the farmers’ market, and I grow and process a lot of our food in fine prairie woman tradition, but I of course still rely heavily on going regularly to a big grocery store. For several reasons, not necessarily ideological, I have been a Co-op shopper for several years. One thing that I find really distressing is the apparent complete disconnect between the history of the cooperative movement and the buying practices of Federated Cooperatives Ltd, which is headquartered here in Saskatoon and is the largest cooperative in Canada. Imagine my disgust when last week I was in the Greystone grocery store and saw that pork ribs that were on special were imported - from FINLAND. This in the same week that Stomp Pork, which employs hundreds of people in Saskatchewan communities, filed for bankruptcy. Now, I don’t tend to buy a lot of meat at the grocery store, and I know there are a lot of issues with intensive pork barns, but at a time when the Saskatchewan pork industry is on its knees, why on earth is a powerful retailer like Federated Cooperatives importing pork from the EU?

After travelling all the way from Finland to Saskatoon, those ribs were being sold at less than three dollars a pound. I suspect it’s part of some EU-subsidized program to get rid of surplus in the European market, but it baffles me how it can be that freight from northern Europe is less than feed grain in the Humboldt area.

There are many environmental and animal welfare arguments against intensive hog operations, but if they continue to falter and we continue to lose the processors in this province, the few small-scale producers left will be in dire straits as well.

As you’ve said in this post, the issue of food miles is really complex and there’s so much more to it than just distance. I feel pretty good about the food buying choices that I make, and think that I’m getting better all the time, but I get frustrated with the large grocery retail system. The complexity of the situation can make tackling part of it so daunting that I don’t quite know where to start, but those ribs have motivated me to start with turning my regular grumblings and occasional comment cards into more concerted lobbying to Federated Cooperatives to encourage them to think about their roots, their place in the marketplace, and the opportunity they have to be a leader in supporting Saskatchewan farmers, livestock producers, and greenhouse growers. For starters - why are the Co-op store brand pickles imported from India? Why are there US-grown potatoes on the shelves?

Co-op already brings in cucumbers from Grandora Gardens and herbs from Fran’s House of Herbs in season, and sells Pine View Farms chicken and beef year-round. (The Varsity Common Sobeys sells carrots from Rosetown and has Peak of the Market produce from Manitoba more reliably than other stores, I think - maybe an argument based on getting better local options at a competitor will speak more loudly than principles themselves?)

Hopefully pressure from members will get Federated to take a closer look at their supply chain and get better all the time. It’s a start.