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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2005-03-17, Page 44THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2005. PAGE A19. From farm to store a different route than in the past By Bonnie Gropp Citizen editor With the arrival of chain grocery stores to rural Ontario the connection to local agricultural produce and meat is not as it once was. Dave and Janet McCutcheon returned to Dave’s hometown of Brussels in 1968 to help his father with his grocery. “It was a series of events, actually. My mother's health had failed somewhat and we were living in the city and thought it was time to come home.” said Dave. He remained until 1988. unable to compete with the new EMA store which had come to town a few years prior. McCutcheon’s Grocery was one of several small-town stores that survived in an era when what came off the wholesale trucks was not the only thing offered to customers. “When the doors closed at.6 p.m., it didn't mean you were done work,” said Janet, referring to the trips after hours to pick up in-season produce from local growers. Peaches came from Goderich and locally-grown corn and apples were on the shelves Botines large part of practice Continued from A18 Like most rural folks, they work hard, and although they have made some lifestyle choices as a community, “once you get to know them, they are really no different than you or 1.” “They may differ fundamentally, but they are good to work with,” said Dr. Clark. Although there are a large number of horse breeders in the area due to the Clinton Raceway, he said he really doesn’t do much racetrack business. The majority of his equine business are pleasure horses or those at riding stables. He indicated the majority of his larger animal practice consists of bovines. Since the actual BSE disease can only be determined by scientists in a laboratory, the local veterinarian can only identify the animal by watching and assessing the animal as a non­ ambulatory animal. Although Dr. Clark has had to drive in whiteout conditions to get to a patient, he said building up Hwy. 4 when they last improved the road was a positive step. He noted it could still be better, but it has been improved over the years. He said County Road 25 is a good road in the winter, just because it is an east-west road. “It takes a lot to close County Road 25,” he said. He said it is evident by the number of salt trucks using the road that the road is usually left open. ‘There have been times when I’ve been driving in whiteout conditions that I hope I’m the only crazy fool on the road,” said Dr. Clark. Small veterinarian clinics like the one in Blyth don’t have the manpower to specialize. In clinics in the larger centres like London or Kitchener, veterinarians can specialize in certain procedures like ultra sound or behavioural science. There is also some specialization at the University of Guelph. A small practice veterinarian can andvdocs send patients to a specialist in the big city the same way a general practitioner sends patients to specialists in the human world. in season. The McCutcheons used to travel to Stratford to pick up Howers and plants. “And if anyone came in and asked us to sell things, we did. But a lot of people with market gardens wanted to sell their own," said McCutcheon. “Originally when Dad started (he business, he bought from Phillips in Seaforth, a wholesale/retail business.” With mass wholesaling and improved transportation in today’s markets everything's available, any season, said Dave. One had to visit the butcher for most of their meat and could be fairly certain it came from local producers. “Most of what we offered was packaged meat that we got from Schneiders and Canada Packers. "They had a minimum order, which is probably one of the big differences. Today's minimums, I've been told, are higher." Don Scrimgeour a grocer in Blyth. walked through the doors of Dominion in London, 41 years ago, to work as a meat cutter trainee. “Next to nothing was local. It was done through a government- inspected plant.” In those days. Scrimgeour said meat cutting was done at the store level. “Now at many of the chains it's done at central processing. Very little is cut at store level." What the small grocers had the freedom to do that many of today's franchise owners can't is to take only what they need. “We could generally order whatever we wanted. We had agreements with sonic wholesalers who gave us belter deals," said McCutcheon. Scrimgeour explained that there are various programs today’s grocery store owners can be in and with the independent progam it allows for more local produce. “Others are restricted on what they can buy. It is a touchy area and many of the owners 'arc upset that they can’t buy more locally." Some of these grocers had purchased meat from Norwich Packers, but have had to stop. There arc only three major wholesalers today in Ontario, National Grocers, Sobey's and A&P, and they have the banners under which franchise stores operate. By not opting into the independent program grocers have certain advantages such as more aggressive advertising and specials. The independent program, however, also permits for in-storc meal cutting, though this means government monitoring. The produce end isn't so different for today's stores, said Scrimgeour. "We deal with local producers. We carry local rutabagas and apples. Though we do have a larger supplier in Toronto, we also have one from Walkerton and from him we can buy in smaller quantities,” said Scrimgeour. "It's a huge advantage because we can have a variety of quantities. While produce may not exactly be fresh off the farm in today’s world, grocery stores are generally still carrying good, fresh produce, says Scrimgeour. "We do gel daily delivery. It's probably even better than years ago." “Obviously,” says Scrimgeour, "the days are gone when you could bring in some chickens off the farm to sell. But with the independent program we do have turkeys from Hayters and speciality items from places as close as 30 miles away." While the connection to local agriculture and the quaint/ charm may have disappeared with the small country grocer, the arrival of big stores has brought diversity. “We could never match prices on things like bread and milk, “said McCutcheon. “And today there is a lot more variety." 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