HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 2009-07-29, Page 7•
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Goderich Signal -Star, Wednesday, July 29, 2009 - Page 7
Local grocer cuts ties to big -chain wav of business
To the Editor;
Kudos to grocer Dale Kropf, who was
featured in the news lately for cutting ties to
the Sobeys franchises to go it on his own.
Kropf made the break so he could feature
local meat and produce in his five
Southwestern Ontario stores. Four other
southwestern stores have joined with
Kropf's stores in Arthur, Durham, Lucknow
and Palmerston. Collectively the nine stores
are being called the Hometown Grocers
Co-op.
Now many folks don't know that corpo-
rate policies for the big three grocery chains
in Canada - Metro, Loblaws and Sobeys -
do not allow grocers under their umbrella to
purchase outside of their purchasing plan.
Every company whose products are in their
stores have "bought" shelf space. So it is
not allowed under franchise rules to stock
local produce from a mile away that has not
made that arrangement with the franchise.
And corporations such as Loebs and Sobeys
make year-long contracts for say, California
strawberries, so local producers haven't got
a chance to get into the stores. Sometimes
grocers may make an exception, by putting
some local produce in a cart in an aisle, but
they may risk losing their franchise if they
Letters
opinion
haven't obtained permission to do so.
Recalls of products from foreign coun-
tries, and issues with listeria even here in
Canada are getting people to question pur-
chasing food from farther afield. Loebs had
made some headway in trying to provide
more Ontario and Canadian produce - but
food is still travelling thousands of miles to
get to the stores. Sometimes food is travel-
ling all the way to the food terminal in
Toronto, just to drive back on the same
roads to the local franchises!
People who are conscious of their carbon
footprint and people who want to support
their local farmers - who are neighbours of
theirs- have begun to look elsewhere for
fresh local food and many towns are now
starting to sponsor farmer's markets once
again. But farmer's markets only take place
in -season and on the weekends.
In a large grocery chain, Kropf says, cor-
porate policies stipulate that he only buy
federally inspected, as opposed to provin-
cially inspected meat. This prevents fran-
chisees from stocking local products. Most
federally inspected meat in Canada comes
from large corporations such as Maple
Pride plays out on the field
To the Editor;
It was with great pride and admiration
that we participated in the Ray Ducharme
Memorial Tournament for another suc-
cessful year.
We have watched the tournament grow
first in Terry Austin's capable hands and
now in the hands of Annette Hoggarth and
her group of volunteers. As always, our
family was embraced and included.
We attended games during the tourna-
ment and were so impressed with the way
the tournament was run. We know first
hand how much time and effort goes into
such an undertaking and we would just
like to say "hats off to Annette and her
volunteers for a job well done'.
Minor sports are alive and well in
Goderich.
Sincerely,
Terry Ducharme-Bolger
Leaf, Cargill and -1/son. We all know how
that can affect our food supply! Never mind
the way that these mega -corporations run
down the price of meat to the farmers using
captive supply. Most of the meat sold on
franchise shelves is Alberta beef, as well as
a lot of American chicken and pork.
Hometown Grocers Co-op member Peter
Knipfel, who owns The Chesley Grocery
Store, was also featured in the news article.
He is part-owner of a provincially inspected
local beef processing facility 10 kilometres
from his supermarket. Sobeys' corporate
policy meant he couldn't stock his shelves
with his own beef. Now the meat on his
shelves comes from less than 60 miles
away.
Let's not -kept that taking this step is a
huge one for these owners who no longer
have the supports in place that come with
being in a franchise — the pricing and inven-
tory software, the flyer production, the
purchasing power, the IT and other resource
personnel that they previously relied on, on
a day-to-day basis. The new co-op mem-
bers also have to hire a purchasing person
to take charge of the purchasing and inven-
tory of fresh meat and produce. So we
really need to commend them for the huge
step they have taken on behalf of the con-
sumers and producers of fresh local meats,
fruits and vegetables.
What Kropf, Knipfel and others have
done is hope lly a trend that echoes the
new realities of the marketplace.
Unnecessary trans tion of food over
many thousands of miles when it is avail-
able closer at hand needs to be a thing of the
past.
Consumers at the Hometown Grocer's
Stores are spending more now on produce
at these stores and purchasing better food
for their families. And it is ultimately the
consumer who is going to make changes in
what the big box stores bring in.
As consumers we need to support folks
like Kropf and Knipfel but we also need to
drive the marketplace by making choices
that make the big corporate food giants sit
up and take notice.
Kropf and Knipfel and their associates
have made choices that are going to be
tough to follow up on. Can you take a stand
and make some tough choices too?
Willi Laurie
Clinton
GTA resident miffed at mailings�
To the Editor; think it is an abuse of parlimentary
I live in the Mississauga South riding privilege to mail election materials,
and recently received two mailings, which should be paid for by the
"compliments of Ben Lobb, MP." These Conservative Party and not by taxpayers.
mailings are attack ads directed at Mr. Lobb, please show more respect for
Michael .Ignatieff and do not contain a Canadians, and stop taking advantage of
single mention of what the federal gov- your position using my money!
ernment is doing or plans to do. I am
utterly appalled that my tax dollars are Lori Reesor
being spent on such partisan material. I Mississauga
Hybrids the new dog combinations
Do we have enough designer dog
combinations yet?
Crossbred dogs or hybrids became
popular in the 90s because breeding
anything with a poodle usually pro-
duced hypoallergenic puppies and
messing up the purebred gene pool
eliminated many hereditary problems,
particularly hip dysplasia. Crossing a
Schnauzer with a Poodle gave us a
Schnoodle, an Afghan Hound paired
with a Labrador Retriever produced,an
Afador and a German Shepherd, Husky,
Chow Chow combination brought a lit-
ter of German Chuskies into the world.
don't want to know how the breeder
staged a canine three-way but bacon
treats and a Lassie sex tape had to be
involved.
Last month six new hybrid dog breeds
were announced on a badly -stained red
carpet at dogbreedinfo.com. The
Chorkie, the result of a Chihuahua get-
ting too cozy with a Yorkshire Terrier
produced a dog described as coura-
geous and quiet but prone to
being stepped on. The
Labrading6er from a Labrador
Retriever and an English
Springer Spaniel is said to
be merry and loyal but
knocks over small women
and children. The Bulloxer,
the cross between a Boxer
and an American Bulldog is
described as happy and play-
ful but unable to stop fart-
ing. The Gollie from a
Golden Retriever and a
Collie is supposed to be
intelligent and sensitive but
can't help itself from herding other
animals. The well-mannered Bossi-
Poo (Boston Terrier/Poodle) also snores
and drools while the all-new Buggs
(Boston Terrier/Pug) is affectionate and
playful but aggressively guards food,
toys and a favorite spot on the couch.
On my daily walk I've come to know
a Labradoodle named Bailey who is
All the World's
A Circus...
it could get ugly
smart, playful, silly -looking
and loveable. But I can't
help thinking — let's call the
whole hybrid experiment a
success and end it here and
now. We have plenty of dogs
and enough new interesting
crossbreeds so let's get those
Labs out of the labs and go
with what we got. I mean,
unchecked, where will all this
crossbreeding end.
Are we really ready for
a breeder to cross a Border
Collie with a Griffon Guard
Dog and wind up with a
Border Guard that frisks you every
time you come in the house and
demands to see your passport? I don't
think so.
Does anybody want to chase
after the product of a Jack Russell
Terrier and a Greyhound that has a
chippy attitude and goes from zero to
sixty in less than a minute for no appar-
ent reason? And besides you just know
that conception scene is headed straight
to YouTube.
Are we ready for Poinboxer, the cross
between a Boxer and an English Pointer
that loses all his fights because he tele-
graphs his punches?
Who needs a Loodle, a cross between
a Leon and a Poodle that jumps up on
the new furniture and then brags that it
was purchased with nothing down and
no interest for up to one year?
Will the Alaskan Iditerod one day
feature a team of Hairless Huskies that
run with very little wind resistance but
have to wear toques and long under-
wear to keep from freezing their
haunches off?
Seriously, this production of new and
unusual hybrid dogs could well get out
of hand.
Can you imagine a cross between a
German Pointer and a Field Spaniel who
keeps nodding toward the neighbour's
See ROCKY, Page 33