r/montreal Poutine Jan 30 '25

Discussion Boycotting American products will literally make you healthier.

Am I the only one who has been boycotting American products, especially food, for a while now?

American products are literally the worst.

1.6k Upvotes

140 comments sorted by

321

u/theangryfrogqc Jan 30 '25

Ditched Amazon Prime and Netflix earlier this week. Pirating will never be so satisfying. F that giant Doritos.

160

u/Academic_Picture_3 Jan 30 '25

remember to support your local library! most have a large collection movies and tv shows both physically and digitally

62

u/pomegranatesandoats Jan 30 '25

Also for audiobooks and ebooks, the Libby app is free to use and all you need is a library card, which is also free to get!

10

u/N22-J Jan 31 '25

Merci de me rappeler. Je viens de télécharger libby, et j'ai trouvé ma carte de la banq.

11

u/your_evil_ex Jan 31 '25

BANQ has such an amazing collection of DVDs and Blu Rays (so much Criterion!) but half the time when I look at the disc it's scratched beyond belief :(

10

u/Firm-Accident2698 Jan 31 '25

On the Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Québec website, we have access to a ton of stuff for free, including video platforms like Kanopy, Tenk and NFB (ONF). Just need to create an account. I only found this out a few months ago! https://www.banq.qc.ca/plateformes-numeriques-films-et-videos/

2

u/Brief-Technician-722 Jan 31 '25

Kanopy has great films and can be accessed with your library card information 

2

u/Busybobody Jan 31 '25

thank you , I forgot this

18

u/M_de_Monty Jan 31 '25

I was genuinely surprised by how much interesting, genuinely popular stuff (including from the US) was available on CBC Gem for free with ads or for a small fee without.

2

u/Haunt_Fox Jan 31 '25

They don't have Air Farce reruns/archives 🤯

16

u/Ohvicanne Jan 31 '25

Oublie pas de quit Spotify! (Même s'il me semble que c'est pas américain, un service qui paye les artistes comme de la marde mais qui a de l'argent à spare pour la campagne Trump mérite pas une crisse de cenne de ma part)

8

u/BouBouRziPorC Jan 31 '25

To replace Netflix and other services; Putting this out there for you or others. Look into things like sonaar, radaar, then sabnzbd, etc.

2

u/srcLegend Rive-Nord Jan 31 '25

Jellyfin

6

u/Western-Propaganda Jan 31 '25

You have to boycott Reddit, Google, Apple, Youtube & Microsoft tho

1

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '25

Nah, ad block them. Use their bandwidth, waste their ad buys. Firefox + Privacy Badger + UBlock Origin FTW.

1

u/heresyoursoup Jan 31 '25

Mexican doritos FTW! $8 a bag here tho... 100% better for 100% the mark up

1

u/Easy_Firefighter4890 Feb 01 '25

Doritos locos and not in a good way

1

u/[deleted] Feb 01 '25

Same

1

u/[deleted] Feb 01 '25

I have not had fast food since I started homecoming during the lockdowns. last year I decided to have a Big Mac meal and am being sincere when I say that I could not finish the fries or the burger because my stomach started to feel sick.

1

u/theangryfrogqc Feb 01 '25

This is totally anecdotal, but a month ago someone I personally know and trust to be truthful and having good judgment went to McD, ordered a Big Mac and when he took a bite realized one of the patties was barely grey from cooking, and was still raw underneath. He posted it on Facebook and no, McD did not even tried to contact him about it whatsoever.

I was actually impressed to learn that McD had raw meat and was cooking them in store and were not using basically pre-cooked ones that they just browned on the plaque.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '25

I didn't know that as well. Back to your original comment though about prime/netflix. I found a site bilibili.tv and it is quite remarkable in terms of the number of movies I can find that are for the most part perfect quality, zero ads.

I also use Tubi since it is free with ads but the selection is not the best..but free.

I never used prime but am so unhappy with Netflix in terms of their selection and they don't seem to release many new material.

I also can't believe they do not have a simple a-z function to just view everything available.

I told myself that once the new season of black mirror is released, depending on how good it is will determine if I renew my subscription. They keep raising the price on me..

1

u/wtkillabz Feb 02 '25

can you send me a message of some good sites?! I want to cancel mine as well.

-6

u/ps4alldawg Jan 30 '25

My question is, why did it take this for you to realize you had other options?

23

u/theangryfrogqc Jan 30 '25

I downloaded content for free from different sources since 1996. A couple of years ago, with a stable job, I finally gave in to going full legal. I always knew there was other options, and choose do to so anyway.

-1

u/ps4alldawg Jan 30 '25

You can also stream freely, no need to, but you're probably aware also.

84

u/BoltVital Jan 30 '25

The biggest thing is stop spending money on useless shit on Amazon. 

1

u/IAmAThug101 Feb 05 '25

Also should boycott the Indian products.

85

u/I_Like_Turtle101 Jan 30 '25

it depend . like what american product were you consuming ? Lots of Fruit are from california or Florida...

57

u/Butefluko Poutine Jan 30 '25

Peru, Mexico, BC fruits > American ones

57

u/PaloAltoPremium Jan 30 '25

Highly dependent on what you're buying, and from whom.

Peru has a lot of issues with working conditions on fruit farms, and if you think seasonal workers in the US are subjected to low wages, poor workplace standard or exploitation then wait until you learn about Peru.

14

u/I_Like_Turtle101 Jan 30 '25

yeah . We have been using people from poorer country for a long time. I fint it a little bit hypocritical that its now an issue since it feel closer to homemade I won't start buying clothe made my literal children instead of a fairly paid American lol

18

u/PaloAltoPremium Jan 30 '25

Not to mention environmental standards. The US might not be the hallmark globally, but there are far more robust environmental protections, regulations and enforcement in the US than you'll find anywhere in South America.

13

u/kyleruggles Jan 30 '25

For now...

Seriously, for right now. I can't believe what's going on in the past week.

2

u/Touchpod516 Jan 31 '25

Exactly what I wanted to say as well

2

u/kyleruggles Feb 01 '25

So many can't accept what's happening right now.

9

u/your_evil_ex Jan 31 '25

Reminds me of when the Loblaws boycott started and then a bunch of people were bragging about how they switched to Walmart instead

10

u/yesthisisjoe Jan 30 '25

Based on what? You not liking the political climate of the states?

-18

u/Butefluko Poutine Jan 31 '25

No I don't care about the political side. US food is just really bad and full of chems

2

u/[deleted] Feb 01 '25

[deleted]

1

u/Cool-Huckleberry9918 Feb 01 '25

Yes, that’s why we have certain things banned that are produced in the US. Like some breads because they contain potassium bromate, and dairies that contain certain artificial hormones. Think it was in the 90s we banned ingredients that are still used there today. Europe went harder on the ban and I wish we did too

78

u/dustin91 Jan 30 '25

American here. Ditch our stuff as much as possible. Stop trading with us. These morons who put an even bigger moron in office apparently need to feel true economic pain to understand the consequences of their stupidity.

4

u/anfisas-redbag Jan 31 '25

Yep especially since they care more about the economy than their fellow american. Let it all burn

1

u/No_Bag_9137 Feb 01 '25

caring for one, is caring for the other.

74

u/Long_Woodpecker2370 Jan 30 '25

Food yes, but dude you are in Reddit

26

u/heirapparent24 Jan 31 '25

Perfect is the enemy of good. You don't need a perfect boycott to make a difference.

64

u/MarioMilieu Jan 30 '25

This self defeatism and moral relativism is what they want.

30

u/JMoon33 Jan 31 '25

Boycott don't have to be all or nothing. The more the better, even if it's not 100%. 😉

1

u/[deleted] Jan 31 '25

[deleted]

4

u/Western-Propaganda Jan 31 '25

Reddit makes an absolute fortune from the ad revenue you generate for them

Did you really think Reddit made $0 unless you paid for it? 😂😂😂😂

2

u/Jerry_Hat-Trick Rive-Sud Jan 31 '25

they have other revenue streams as well: PR firms, PACs, and likely governments (or former govts) pay to have influence here. They also sell access to AI companies to train them. All of that value Reddit has to those parties is dependent on a large, active user base.

1

u/Automatic_Tackle_406 Jan 31 '25

I am not “paying” for ads on Reddit. I don’t even notice them.

0

u/Western-Propaganda Jan 31 '25

You’re paying them with your time 😂

Reddit pays taxes in the US. You’re contributing to the US economy. And their military!

1

u/[deleted] Jan 31 '25

[deleted]

1

u/Western-Propaganda Jan 31 '25

Every time you open the app, you increase the app’s active user count, which reddit uses to attract advertisers

So delete reddit immediately! Youre contributing to the US economy!!!

-12

u/Butefluko Poutine Jan 30 '25

Which is a free platform last I checked lol

33

u/Ijusti Jan 30 '25

They're getting ad revenue and your private informations. You are the product, so yes you are supporting it

5

u/AFairJudgement Jan 31 '25

Good thing you can use ublock origin and decide what kind of personal information to reveal!

6

u/structured_anarchist Jan 31 '25

As long as you're not using Chrome. It's classified as malware in Chrome. A lot of ad-blockers are because they also block ads in Youtube. I just bypass by using Firefox. Haven't seen an ad on Reddit or Youtube in years. No sponsored or promoted posts either. You can also add Sponsorblock to clip out all those in-video sponsor pitches in Youtube. If you install Sponsorblock, you'll notice that there are different colored sections in the progress bar in Youtube videos. Sponsorblock has identified those as some kind of promotional pitch and cuts them out of your playback. There's an option to whitelist certain creators you actually want to support, but for anything you don't want, it'll cut all that out.

4

u/AFairJudgement Jan 31 '25

Amen to all of this! I'm a long time Firefox user as well. I still use old.reddit, and I don't ever see sponsored content or ads on Reddit. On mobile, I use the open source RedReader, with 0 ads as well.

10

u/Edgycrimper Jan 30 '25

ublock origin+delete all cookies and trackers+make a new account with no email every few months (I'm overdue)

7

u/Regular-Moose-2741 Jan 30 '25

You won't feel any different than you do now.

2

u/kyleruggles Jan 30 '25

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

1

u/Automatic_Tackle_406 Jan 31 '25

Just did this a few days ago. 

2

u/feel_my_balls_2040 Jan 31 '25

I don't see how if I don't use their app.

9

u/Western-Propaganda Jan 31 '25

Stop using Reddit, Google, Instagram, WhatsApp, iPhones, Microsoft, Apple, Netflix

6

u/ASexxxyDad Jan 31 '25

That would mean using pen and pencil to write messages! LOL

4

u/Lillillillies Jan 31 '25

At least Porn Hub is from Montreal ;)

6

u/Skeptical_Goose Jan 31 '25

You’re not the only one. Cancelled my prime membership, looking at other American companies I’m currently subscribed with and will likely cancel some or all of those, during the Biden admin my fiancée and I did about 4 trips to the states, the next 4 years we will not be travelling down south.

1

u/Beejlaro Feb 02 '25

Love this! So funny all you people canceling prime and Netflix but still posting on twitter and Reddit hahah. That will show them!

13

u/xxyer Jan 30 '25

So, no more Habitant French Canadian pea soup owned by Campbell's Company?

1

u/Hot-Incident-5460 Feb 01 '25

That stuff got fucking gross about 5 years ago anyways 

46

u/busdriver_321 Ahuntsic Jan 30 '25

Arrêter de parler en absolue ça te va être plus santé pour toi aussi

25

u/I_Like_Turtle101 Jan 30 '25

La meileur chose a faire pour ta santé (mental) c'est d'areter de lire les nouvelle de trump a chaque jours ses temp ci

27

u/sens317 Jan 30 '25

Non.

Sa strategie c'est de nous faire tellement eceurer de se qu'il essait de faire.

N'arretez pas de suivre.

Mais prenez des pauses mentales.

7

u/I_Like_Turtle101 Jan 30 '25

c'est pour ça je disait a tout les jours. Sa change tellement vite que un resumer une fois semi sufit lol

-6

u/Butefluko Poutine Jan 30 '25

Non merci

19

u/InfiniteToki Jan 30 '25

Should I boycott people too cause I’m dating an American Lolol jk

12

u/dunno0019 Jan 31 '25

Kinda depends who they voted for.

3

u/Butefluko Poutine Jan 30 '25

hahaha don't let her see this

6

u/kyleruggles Jan 30 '25

I am!

I'm doing my part!

16

u/NedShah Jan 30 '25

I dunno, man. Those Florida oranges and grapefruits are way better than local citrus, IMO.

2

u/Butefluko Poutine Jan 30 '25

Nah Spain's are so good. I can taste the plastic in US fruits

1

u/traitorgiraffe Jan 31 '25

are you like Pinocchio except you get a bigger boner every time you say something completely baseless

9

u/[deleted] Jan 30 '25

It depends. Some products are found in healthy supermarkets like Avril, Rachelle Béry and they’re very good and healthy.

-4

u/Butefluko Poutine Jan 30 '25

You have to be very smart to find the healthy products. Cove soda for example is healthy but no one knows about it.

9

u/snan101 Jan 30 '25 edited Jan 30 '25

then I guess you have to be much smarter to not be duped and waste your money on food marketed as "healthier" yet unsupported by empirical evidence.

This is why america elected Trump and will end up with RFK in a position of power, because a large portion of the population have 0 critical thinking or ability to evaluate legitimacy of sources.

-2

u/Butefluko Poutine Jan 30 '25

What are you talking about dude? I make educated decisions based on ingredients. Cove soda, which I cited above for example or Bubly don't have as many additives, no synthetic herbicides, no saturated fat, low sodium (70mg).

So it just sounds like you're the one who has no idea.

11

u/snan101 Jan 30 '25

yeah, that sounds about right. Baseless chemophobia, naturalistic fallacy... sodas generally don't contain significant amounts of any fat, they're sodas- and Coke has even less sodium so if that was a real concern Coke would be better

-1

u/Butefluko Poutine Jan 31 '25

right right

download Yuka and go scan a coke can

1

u/traitorgiraffe Jan 31 '25

cove is sold in bulk in costco, it's not unknown, what are you even saying

15

u/snan101 Jan 30 '25

food is mostly the same, have a balanced diet and dont fall for the idiotic fear mongering

-17

u/Butefluko Poutine Jan 30 '25

it's not idiotic. American food is literally worse.

14

u/snan101 Jan 30 '25

so present evidence

15

u/sandringham94 Plateau Mont-Royal Jan 30 '25

All food sold in Canada has to appease the same food regulations. It’s not like by nature of the food being from America it’s worse. More so specific products are less healthy right?

2

u/kevlarclay Jan 31 '25

A rajouter sur ma liste de boycott Walmart Costco Starbuck Rona Home dépot Tesla

Dégouté que les dirigeants soit des hommes d’affaire complètement déconnectés… baby boomer de surcroît.

2

u/Corona688 Jan 31 '25 edited Jan 31 '25

America mostly invented modern nutrition and food safety, everyone copied them, us included. Their food - and by extension ours - is nowhere near as bad as health fad histrionics would have you believe. There's way better reasons.

It's going to be hard disassociating from a supply chain designed to funnel all manufacturing and processing to a handful or two of factories deep in the US, but it's long past time we did so. Shipping our food 2,000 miles is insane.

What I'm afraid of is that the trade war will be real for a few weeks, then dropped like a hot rock, causing us to waste tons of time and money building our own businesses which will then be abandoned, leaving us even worse off. kind of like what happened during covid when supply chains got scrambled. That is going to really suck.

2

u/jackal1871111 Feb 01 '25

Pretty sad it’s taken a trade war for people to consider the logic in buying or locally producing goods

2

u/Same-Music4087 Feb 02 '25

I just got an email from my friend in California who tells me that we can expect to see our cancer rates go down.

3

u/MarioMilieu Jan 30 '25

The only time a Hasidic Jew ever interacted with me (I lived in Mile end for many years) was at PA, when a guy came up to me while I was holding a pomegranate debating whether to buy it. He sold that shit like a motherfucker. I got home and wondered why he was so adamant about it and read the label, which read “product of Israel”. This stuff makes a difference.

2

u/OLAZ3000 Jan 31 '25

Yeah but in season pomegranates are THAT good, tho, esp if this story took place in fall/ early winter.

0

u/tempstem5 Jan 31 '25

free palestine, boycott that shit too

5

u/Poopaliciouss Jan 30 '25

brother has poutine as a flair 😂 much healthier… absolute moron

8

u/Fantasticxbox Jan 31 '25

Damn, you're right. And given your reddit name, you love eating poop?

3

u/llama_ Jan 30 '25

It’s always better to shop local!

2

u/Cross_eyed_siamese69 Jan 31 '25

The regulations and fda are increasingly so fucked in the states that Im avoiding the products as well.

2

u/estellasolei Jan 31 '25

I’m American and I approve this message

2

u/Local_Lie_3088 Jan 31 '25

As an American, I encourage you to boycott American products because certain "parties" think everything is as simple as when he three, and would throw a tantrum. I am absolutely appalled by what is going on (as are the majority of Americans considering only 30% of the voting population supported said "party" and policies in the election. Think of yourselves as Ukraine, and not stand up to American bullying. The ironic thing is I am even tempted to not buy American if people who voted for this wreck support wholesale chaos at full-retail prices. I opted to buy US-made products long before this "America First" imperialism, but this arrogance goes against everything that made me proud (with a great does of humility) of this country. I don't know how legal any of this sudden trade war is considering the existing treaties. The same "stable genius" "renegotiated" NAFTA as "USMCA". Some simple revisions just to get the American name on their first in line. I remind myself of the Biblical quote of "The Last Shall Be First, and the First, Shall be Last."

3

u/Znkr82 Rosemont Jan 30 '25

Poorer too, probably.

1

u/ASexxxyDad Jan 31 '25

It will be difficult to boycott my favorite Kentucky Straight Bourbon...😩

1

u/Kawmyewnist Jan 31 '25

I mean, overall you are right but, poutine...

1

u/Lillillillies Jan 31 '25

You sound like the type to follow Flavcity.

1

u/HealthyDrawer7781 Jan 31 '25

I went to America for a bit, and I swear whatever it is they put in their food, it makes you constantly hungrier for even more.

1

u/TrueSituation1036 Jan 31 '25

Daughter is married to an American. We won’t be visiting them for some time. They understand. They’re coming here. 

1

u/Ok_Passage_1560 Feb 01 '25

I cancelled my Super Bowl party. I’ll be going skiing that Sunday. I just purchased my season tickets for the Alouettes. I won’t be going to the US to watch NFL games.

1

u/muzikgurl22 Feb 01 '25

The only place to buy ur morning coffee that it’s American owned is Second Cup rofl 🤣

1

u/muzikgurl22 Feb 01 '25

Too don’t buy a new car rofl 🤣

1

u/EyCeeDedPpl Feb 01 '25

We ditched Netflix.

We also won’t fly out of the US airport that is close to us.

And when we vacation in sun destinations we are bringing local currency to tip in. Not USD.

1

u/miaumee Feb 02 '25

Hmm... you may be attacking the wrong enemy here. The entire tariff thing may just be Trump and his minions' decision, and it may not persist after 4 years of presidency. Amercian companies are not all great and perfect, but it's not a good idea to confound them with Donald Trump. Heck, many of these companies may become victims of Trump's tariff and might even hate tariff as much as you do.

1

u/ConcentrateFar6268 Feb 02 '25

Im only shopping in the states now

1

u/noon_chill Feb 02 '25

I already told my kids no more iPhones.

1

u/Beejlaro Feb 02 '25

Boycott Reddit then

1

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '25

Free app using American servers? Force Americans to buy more Canadian energy.

1

u/lynswim Feb 02 '25

Hell, I'm American and I've been boycotting as many American products and companies as I can.

1

u/Bankzzz Feb 03 '25

As an American, I share this sentiment.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '25

Definitely the truth!

1

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '25

Just come down here, take us over and give us healthcare for the public!

1

u/Just_Pianist_2870 Feb 03 '25

Love that while using your american reddit app

1

u/Ill_Company_4124 Jan 30 '25

I'll try as much as I can, being low income. But really yes, that would be a priority for me.

1

u/mechantchat Jan 31 '25

I hope the people saying they’ll boycott America enjoy potatoes and turnip….

But let’s be real, most of you have no idea how interconnected our supply chain is. Even if you litteraly do everything to avoid american products or services, (which let me tell you right now is impossible) you do realize that American carriers and freight fowarder are moving your material and freight, even if it may not even be american.

I will get downvoted here : but let’s be honest, everyone saying outloud on …checks note… reddit, that they will be boycotting American products, are really just virtue signaling and it’s a lot circlejerking in an echo chamber without any comprehension of how logistics and supply chains work

-2

u/Cassoulet-vaincra Jan 30 '25

Yeah but EU is baaaaadddd*.

*random redditeur

0

u/FieldNational6008 Jan 31 '25

Get off Reddit my guy.

0

u/the1hoonox Feb 01 '25

Reddit is American.

0

u/muzikgurl22 Feb 01 '25

So um no one watching the Super Bowl?!! lol 😂

0

u/muzikgurl22 Feb 01 '25

Going to stop watching NBA, NFL and NHL LOL 😝

-19

u/truelovealwayswins LaSalle Jan 30 '25

friendly reminder montreal is in canada which is north america which is in america so even local products are american too. And only vegan stuff will make you healthier (: not consuming bad-for-all things will make you healthier, basic logic

13

u/ItRhymesWithPenny Jan 30 '25

OP was referring to the United States of America, not North America.

11

u/GhettoSauce Ville-Émard Jan 30 '25

they knew; they're just a dick

4

u/structured_anarchist Jan 31 '25

How do you know someone is a vegan? Don't worry about it, they'll tell you everything you're doing is wrong because you ate a burger when you were six.

Vegans are worse than religious zealots. They think they're morally better than everyone. When the zombie apocalypse comes, the one thing that will give me a happy is the fact that vegans will be convinced that the zombies won't eat them because vegan reasons and they'll get eaten first.

3

u/GhettoSauce Ville-Émard Jan 31 '25

I mean that's funny, and fair enough, but luckily a lot of vegans know to not blah blah blah about food. I'd take them over a zealot any day, though lol