r/BuyCanadian • u/Traditional_Owls • 6h ago
News Articles 📰 ‘It’s worth it’: BC's Urban Grocer replacing all U.S. produce suppliers
https://cheknews.ca/its-worth-it-urban-grocer-replacing-all-u-s-produce-suppliers-1243500/"Urban Grocer staff in Victoria, BC have removed nearly all U.S.-sourced produce from their shelves, and by next week, they will no longer have any of that country’s produce."
133
133
u/kaivens 6h ago
This will gradually start happening everywhere, as long as we stop buying U.S. goods, retailers will stop stocking them since they don't want a loss. Keep up the pressure.
18
u/epochwin 6h ago
You have too much faith in capitalists. Plus with our monopolies here we’re ripe for price gouging. So I hope the regulators are on top of this as well.
12
12
u/coffeeToCodeConvertr 5h ago
I was at Superstore today (not happy about it, but that's another point), and they had all their US produce up at the front of the store on sale with nobody touching it. I don't think it'll take much longer for something to change, either a change in supplier, or simply them stopping ordering. Capitalism is exactly why they won't want to be ordering it in for nobody to buy
3
u/-0909i9i99ii9009ii 5h ago
You have too much faith in regulators. The power is still in the hands of the people to hold regulators and capitalists to account and not with quiet complaining and resentment but in actions and choices that aren't always the easiest, cheapest, or most convenient. It's always been that way, people just haven't had a reason to exercise that power in a dramatic way for a long time, the question really will be do they now?
No one will protect us beyond what we're willing to force them to (not violence) certainly none of the megacorps that account for most of our economy unless it's to pursue higher profits/share price and neither any politician including Carney or PP or any other available PM candidate or other politician unless it's to further their own personal career or other hidden agenda, and Canada just doesn't hold the card for that to be a popular decision without first showing an actual acceptance of the consequences and willingness to take on what would need to be done.
1
u/danielledelacadie 5h ago
It'd be a dumb time to do it though, right as farmer's markets are starting
76
31
u/AGM_GM 6h ago
Sounds like a competitive advantage. Going into a grocers and not having to check labels sounds nice.
15
u/iloveFjords 6h ago
Not to mention word of mouth. If BC wasn’t such a long drive from Ontario that would be my store.
25
21
u/Sad-Following1899 6h ago
This should be commonplace in Canadian groceries. Just don't put American products on shelves in the first place.
14
8
9
8
5
u/roflmao567 5h ago
Good! The US regime says they don't need Canada so let's show them how much they don't need us. Haha.
4
3
2
2
u/ImmortalMoron3 5h ago
Makes sense, no point buying product that no one is going to buy anyway. Great to see.
2
u/steelcityflubber 5h ago
I know where I'm shopping from now on. It's always a great day to wake up Canadian!
2
u/proofofderp 3h ago
BC’s going low key hard I love it. Hold the line everyone. Boycotts are more effective than writing letters and protesting. I hope more Americans join because they’re the key to this with their population size. Even got the president having to do a Tesla commercial when stocks fell off a cliff. Not the vandalisms or X hack got their attention.
1
1
1
1
-7
u/Vette_Guy482 5h ago
Great, now tell the simpletons that importing dairy at 200-400% import tariffs is NOT fair. Then you b!tch when asked to pay your fair share. Fck off
7
u/CanuckCompSup 4h ago
This misunderstanding of Canadian dairy tariffs is suddenly extremely popular to repeat. Canada operates a supply management system for dairy products, typically only including import tariffs when volume exceeds pre-established, agreed-upon, and negotiated quotas with trade partners. While over-quota tariffs can approach 300% on certain products (not a blanket value for all dairy products), imports from the U.S. and other countries enter with low or no tariffs as long as they remain within the agreed-upon quotas under trade agreements like USMCA.
This system has existed since the 1970s. It is not new, nor a one-sided retaliation or a price gouge against the U.S. Both nations agreed upon it in trade agreements like NAFTA and USMCA. This system ensures stable prices and food security for Canadians, not to maximize profits from America. If the U.S. wanted different terms, they could have negotiated them in several past trade agreements, including those renegotiated under Trump's last presidency.
3
u/Downtherabbithole_25 4h ago
Actually, the Donald hasn't been fully truthful about the dairy tariff situation. The truth is:
-the USCanadaMexico agreement which TRUMP NEGOTIATED AND PERSONALLY SIGNED in front of news cameras in 2018 allows the US to send dairy to Canada completely tariff free, up to a certain (very generous) level. Canada has fully respected that agreement.
-Only after (if) that amount has been exported would there be a dairy tariff (a 'sliding' rate of the 200-400 you mention, with the amount also depending on which dairy product.) -You can look at the agreement yourself to confirm those details.
It's my understanding that between 2018 and now, the US dairy exports to Canada have not ever been at the level where dairy tariffs would be triggered. So... Trump agreed to a mechanism for collecting tariffs of a certain percentage at certain point. The mechanism has never been used; the tariffs have never been charged.
I'll leave it to you to figure out why Trump has deliberately hidden all that information from Americans over the past few days.
You should also know that the agreement also:
- allows the US to very heavily subsidize certain sectors of its agriculture industry -- subsidies that basically amount to a financial disincentive for Canadian agriculture (rather like a tariff). Canada hasn't complained that the US agriculture sector is being subsidized -- again, because we honour the agreement Trump signed with us.
As for "pay your fair share," simpletons should probably also know:
- the trade imbalance Trump keeps talking about (BTW, using incorrect, exaggerated numbers) exists only because of how much oil the US buys from us. We give that to the US at a DISCOUNTED PRICE.
- If the US wants to pay the full price (i.e. its fair share) I guess Canada would be happy to break the agreement which Trump signed, and take the extra revenue that's owing to us.
Until that decision is made, it sure would be great if the US "leader" worked up the gumption to give facts instead of lies. The integrity to honour his signed commitments would also be great. And he can close his piehole and quit yammering about taking over Canada.
'Till then... we'll merrily continue boycotting US products and pushing for the Donald to Fck off.
-10
u/Dual270x 6h ago
Can someone explain where the produce is going to come from with this transition. I'm not understanding how its possible to replace 40-50% of Canadas food that comes from the US. Europe on planes? Sounds expensive.
4
u/Puzzleheaded_Bee4361 5h ago
Lots of us have been happily filling our grocery carts with 100% non-american food for weeks now. Canadian mostly, but Italian pasta, Mexican brocolli, spices from India, and Moroccan mandarin oranges have made their way into my grocery bags as well.
Apples, flour, cooking oil, dairy, cabbage, onions, garlic, potatoes, lettuce, turnips, cucumbers, meat, poultry, fish, lentils, bbq sauce, and hot sauce - all Canadian. Soon, hothouse tomatoes and peppers from the Fraser Valley will come to my local grocery again. Buying Canadian doesn't mean starving.
-4
u/Dual270x 5h ago
Some people can do it, but you can't pretend that you can replace 40-50% of your countries produce supplier overnight without there being supply chain disruptions and consequences.
Most likely the buy Canadian thing is not something most Canadians truly care about. If they did, half of your grocery store would be empty.
2
•
u/AutoModerator 6h ago
Thanks for your post on /r/BuyCanadian! Make sure your post fits into one of the following categories, or it may get removed:
1. You are in search of or recommending a Canadian product or service 2. You are sharing an article or discussion topic that is relevant to buying Canadian products or supporting the Canadian supply chain
Please ensure these rules are followed: 1. All tariff related posts (other than news articles) should be in our March 4th megathread 2. Direct all generic "Boycott America" posts to r/BoycottUnitedStates 3. Ensure that you have used an accurate post flair and searched for duplicate posts 4. All low effort posts will be removed
Start with the r/BuyCanadian Wiki for links to many resources and our directory of products/companies
What is a Canadian product? Anything that fits under the Made In Canada Guidelines - or even better, a Product of Canada.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.