The Citizen, 2009-07-23, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2009.
The little ones
On the ground and in the air, planes from big to small were
in abundance at the Richard W. LeVan Airport on Sunday
for the Wingham Optimists’ annual fly-in breakfast. A
number of radio-controlled authentic models were on
display. (Vicky Bremner photo)
THE EDITOR,Kudos to grocer Dale Kropf, whowas featured in the news lately forcutting ties to a grocery franchise 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 in
Arthur, Durham, Lucknow and
Palmerston have joined with Kropf’s
stores. Collectively they are being
called the Hometown Grocers Co-
op.
Now many folks don’t know that
corporate 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 haven’t obtained
permission to do so.
Recalls of products from foreign
countries, and issues with listeria
even here in Canada are getting
people to question purchasing 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
travelling all the way to the food
terminal in Toronto, just to drive
back on the same roads to the localfranchises! People who are conscious of theircarbon 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, corporate policies
stipulate that he only buy federally-
inspected, as opposed to provincially
inspected meat. This prevents
franchisees from stocking local
products. Most federally-inspected
meat in Canada comes from large
corporations. 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. The company’s
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 forget 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 inventory
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 members also haveto hire a purchasing person to takecharge of the purchasing and
inventory of fresh meat and produce.
So we really need to commend
them for the huge step they have
taken on behalf of the consumers
and producers of fresh local meats,
fruits and vegetables.
What Kropf, Knipfel and others
have done is hopefully a trend that
echoes the new realities of the
marketplace. Unnecessary
transportation of food over many
thousands of miles when it is
available closer at hand needs to be a
thing of the past.Consumers at the HometownGrocer’s Stores are spending morenow 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 upon. Can you take a stand and makesome tough choices too? Willi Laurie.
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THE EDITOR,
I am writing to commend The
Citizen on its excellent coverage of
area Grade 8 nights and the F. E.
Madill Ontario Scholars published
in the July 9 and 16 editions
respectively.
Celebrating the accomplishments
of these area young people is a
yearly tradition and these issues are
widely anticipated. As a teacher, I
enjoy reading about all of these
young people, their
accomplishments and awards,
particularly those who I may have
taught in the past. As a parent, it is a
proud moment when we see our
sons’ and daughters’ names listed
among the Grade 8 award winners
or Ontario Scholars.
As a former newspaper person, I
know that providing this coverage is
part of what is considered news in a
small community and what small-
town papers do best.
As well, from a business
standpoint, this coverage results in
many extra photographs and papers
being sold to family, extended
family and friends. (I know, I bought
a dozen copies of the July 16 edition
myself.)
But not only was I impressed with
the Grade 8 night and Ontario
Scholar coverage in The Citizen,I
found your hard news, features and
editorials superb and for this reason
I am enclosing a cheque for a
subscription to your newspaper.
Keep up the good work and thank
you.
Margaret Stapleton, Wingham.
Letter
Writer praises
grad coverage
THE EDITOR,
The North Huron Relay for Life
will take place Friday, Aug. 7 in
Wingham.
A new Brussels-area team has
been formed this year in honour and
memory of Wayne Lowe – a great
community-minded person.
Charlie’s Angels, named from part
of Wayne’s nickname, is hosting a
fundraiser barbecue this Friday, July
24 (tomorrow) from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
in front of Murray’s Barbershop,
downtown Brussels. We’re cooking
up some hot dogs and hamburgers
and looking forward to you coming
to our get-together to help support
the ways and means of the Canadian
Cancer Society.
In hope of finding the cure …
John Lowe, Brussels.
Letter to the editorGrocer thanked for cutting ties with chain
Letter to
the editor