It’s high time to evaluate the possibility of a guaranteed minimum income, for greater financial equity for all
Every month, Statistics Canada reminds us that life is getting more expensive. But for food, the situation has been unique over the last few decades. Based on numbers released recently, the price of a typical grocery basket has increased by about 240 per cent since 2000. Some will think such a percentage is expected, given…
Looks like we may be heading for a second COVID-19 wave. If that’s the case, we should keep calm and grocery shop in this new normal
Many months into the COVID-19 pandemic, we know more about this relentless virus and how it behaves and spreads. Using this limited but growing scientific knowledge, public health measures have kept us largely safe. Back in March, given the unknowns we needed to manage, the only solution possible was a complete lockdown. It came into…
Canada depends on imports for fruits and vegetables. We need to think differently about how we feed ourselves during cold months
California is on fire. Although most of the fire-affected territory has nothing to do with agriculture, the smoke is so intense that it could damage many crops. And as fall approaches, the California fires could affect Canada’s food supply for the coming months. Like the labour issues affecting Canadian farmers this summer, this is certainly…
But the federal government and most provinces have failed to help the hospitality sector. Only New Brunswick is making a difference
The best way to get an economy going again is to get to Canadians’ wallets by way of their stomachs. But it’s a long road. Up to 25 per cent of restaurants in Canada have closed for the season and perhaps for good. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce expects 60 per cent of restaurants to…
Canadians are throwing away more food, in part because we’re cooking more at home but also out of irrational fear
Food waste creates an invisible bill you must pay every day. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the average Canadian household wasted a little more than two kg in food a week. But since March, our lives have changed and most Canadians have spent more time at home. So are Canadians generating more food waste at home?…
Food manufacturing in Canada is dying a slow death. The sector has lost 12 jobs a day every day since 2012. This won’t help
Consumers got a glimpse of how food supply chains work – or don’t – at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now Walmart is giving them a chilling new perspective. The sight of empty shelves in grocery stores is certainly a strong indicator at the retail level that something is amiss upstream. Reasons at the…
From online grocery shopping to home delivery to cooking with fresh ingredients to higher prices to fewer choices in stores
More than five months into the pandemic, we can start to see how life will look on the other side. At the grocery store, some changes will disappear while others will stay with us for the foreseeable future. Food is getting more expensive everywhere, including Canada. We expect prices to increase by four per cent.…
Tipping promotes age, race and gender bias, and make servers more vulnerable to sexual harassment from customers
In North America, the tipping culture has always been a source of pride, giving customers the last word when human interaction is involved. Good service deserves a good tip, while an unsatisfactory experience results in no reward for the server. In some European and Asian countries, the tip is included in the price at the…
The lockdowns, and the economic wrath that followed, will leave a definite scar on the lives of many young people
People under the age of 30 will pay a dear price for the global pandemic and could even be renamed the COVID-19 generation. After almost five months, most would agree that the older generations – although perhaps medically affected by COVID-19 – have been largely unscathed economically. Baby boomers and older generations have lived long…
The continued popularity of meat-fee diets may point to the damaging legacy of COVID-19 for some sectors
Before COVID-19, the craze for vegetable proteins was palpable. All we heard about were sustainability, animal welfare and Beyond Meat. The health of the planet and well-being of animals became increasingly important factors to a growing number of Canadians, and it showed in the numbers. A few months after the great confinement started, some new…
Grocery retailers must come to terms with serving a shifting population. And restaurants face learning to be more flexible
Canadians seem to want to flee urban centres. The food industry will need to keep a close eye on the trend. The real estate market is overheating in regions outside of major cities like Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Halifax. Recent real estate reports suggest sales are up 20 per cent in many rural markets and…
Witnesses testifying before parliamentary committees are often used as political puppets to support underlying agendas
Top Canadian grocers testified before a parliamentary standing committee last week to explain why all COVID-19 incentive programs in their operations were cancelled within hours. Most grocery store and distribution centre employees were paid extra at the beginning of the pandemic, only to see wages go back to pre-COVID levels now. CEOs who testified were…
We’re now $343 billion poorer as a nation because of COVID-19. As a result, our national debt will reach unprecedented levels. While some Canadians will dispute how the government is supporting Canadians and businesses during the pandemic, many will argue it didn’t have of much choice. There’s certainly some truth to that. The numbers are…
Food inflation is on the way up, despite lower prices for other consumer goods. And COVID-19 has impacted incomes
Statistics Canada has confirmed what most of us knew already: Canada is becoming a hungrier place. According to a survey conducted by the federal agency in May, almost one in seven (14.6 per cent) Canadians indicated they lived in a household where there was food insecurity in the past month. In 2017-18, a similar survey…
Voilà delivery vans will offer one-hour grocery delivery in the Toronto area, with Montreal service next
Voilà is the new benchmark in online food retailing in Canada, at least for now. More than 100 Voilà delivery vans will roam the streets of the Greater Toronto Area to deliver food to customers who have opted to buy their groceries online from Sobeys. At the centre of the fleet is a state-of-the-art distribution…