“Local” produce can come from far away
Radio-Canada/CBC has a report on how produce being sold at farmers’ markets is implied or explicitly labelled to be local, but often isn’t. As one commenter on the Radio-Canada story writes, “des pommes Royal Gala à l’année, ça vient pas de chez nous ça !”
Kevin 21:09 on 2012/07/14 Permalink
And who thinks those bananas are from Quebec? ;)
Kate 22:08 on 2012/07/14 Permalink
I think the story’s implicitly about things like tomatoes that could conceivably pass as having been grown here. Not avocadoes and oranges and bananas.
A month or so ago I was at Jean-Talon market wondering how it was so many “Quebec” tomatoes were for sale, so early in the season…
david m 03:18 on 2012/07/15 Permalink
yeah, it really calls into question the mission and mandate of a market like the jean-talon if you’re essentially buying the same vegetables or whatever you could get at the marché richelieu or métro near to you. the fact that the producers would resort to subterfuge suggests that they understand that the cachet of such a market rests in the implicit understanding that what’s sold there ought to be local, at the very least. which suggests that the problem lies with the market’s management, and the way in which vendors are being selected and brought to account.
Ian 08:43 on 2012/07/15 Permalink
I used to work at Atwater Market and most of the farmers would routinely dump produce purchased from the same depot as Super C or Provigo into “grown in Quebec” boxes.
Jack 08:59 on 2012/07/15 Permalink
The Marche Jean Talon is by far and away the worst offender. I really didn’t think anything of it until a bunch of neighbors and myself organized a campaign to pedestrianize the market about 5 years ago, which was marginally successful. What hit us between the eyes was that a majority of the stall owners agriculture consisted of driving to the Marche Central buying California or Florida produce, sticking some straw in their mouths, and pretending to be farmers. It was brutal, they were also the most pro car service of all the people who worked there. As for the management they are scared to death of these families who have run roughshod over the real farmers for decades. These stories actually emanate from one farmer who was the most sympathetic to the anti car campaign and has dealt with the threats and intimidation from the ‘grossistes”, he apparently has had enough. I am worried for him and his wife and son. Ask the “grossistes” where they farm and they will lie to you, I only shop off the middle alleys where after years I have identified who is real and who is not. That shouldn’t be the job of every consumer, it should be the markets.
Blork 10:20 on 2012/07/15 Permalink
That happens a lot in regular grocery stores too, although in that case it’s mostly laziness and incompetence. For example, the sign over the aparagus will say it’s a product of Quebec but the elastic band around the actual asparagus will say “Product of Mexico.” That’s not an attempt at subterfuge, it’s just people being careless and not bothering to change the sign when the Quebec asparagus runs out and they start selling the stuff from Mexico.
BTW, most of those “Quebec” tomatoes are indeed from Quebec, but they’re hothouse tomatoes that are grown year-round.
Kate 11:08 on 2012/07/15 Permalink
Jack, that’s some story. I hadn’t realized you were one of the pedestrianize-the-market people – it was a story I followed on this blog back before I had comments on.
Jack 18:13 on 2012/07/16 Permalink
Kate it took 3 years to have the summer weekends. It started for me when a car honked at me and my daughter for not walking fast enough…..in the market. It took the concerted effort of dozens who could not believe that a Market run by the city had given almost total decisional power to 3 families. They still run the market and make a hell of a lot money (no receipts?) Even trying to get those weekends was tough, until someone realized that the then Minister of Municipal Affairs, Andre Boisclair, had provided millions to the market to add an underground parking and new infrastructure, one of the reasons, to make the market more pedestrian friendly.The “grossistes” saw it as an opportunity to add car friendly roads and did, they signed 4 roads to criss cross the market so people could shop from their cars (Orange Julep?). When the then mayor of the Rosemont-Petite Patrie borough (Andre Lavallée, former Louise Harel aide) was confronted with that text, Boisclair was the leader of the PQ and an election was coming. Within three weeks the summer no car weekends were added, until that moment zero traction. It makes you wonder…..