Letter to the Editor
Dear Sir,
In your 3 Rs… Rants, Raves & Rumours column in your April 6 print edition of The Meaford Independent you remarked on some of the reprehensible aspects of the practices of the corporate grocery chain industry.
Unfortunately we in Canada lack the wherewithal to confront the numerous abuses encountered daily when shopping for groceries. A glance at the laws governing truth in advertising and price fixing practices will reveal that it is well nigh impossible for the average citizen to secure a conviction in case of non-compliance with the law by the companies involved in manufacturing and distribution, because there are so many loopholes favouring those companies. Frankly in my view the Canada Consumer Affairs department should be aptly renamed the Business Protection Agency.
A few weeks before there were comments in the media stating that we the consumers were responsible for wasting a tremendous amount of food. A recent experience of mine proves that the claim is grossly exaggerated and that the real culprits are the food distributing companies.
I have just spent a few weeks in British Columbia in a place across from Vancouver only accessible by ferry or float plane where the prices for groceries and many other items are considered the highest in Canada but in reality in many cases they are cheaper than in Meaford. What is particularly galling is that some items produced here locally or other places in Ontario are priced higher than over there, such as apples, leeks, lettuce, etc.
Another recent practice adopted in a Meaford store and others elsewhere is contributing to the waste, the price for some canned goods for instance is advertised for single and multiple items with the single item being proportionally higher, this results is the consumers buying more of the product than they really need with more potential for waste, and the practice is grossly unfair on low income and single people.
We are prodded to support the the local economy and shop locally but why should we when we are treated so unfairly? There is a solution available to people with personal transport: it is called boycott, and in the case of those without this facility they can always take a single item to the cashiers and refuse to pay the the inflated price at check out thus causing confusion and hopefully second thoughts amongst those responsible for the practice.
Sincerely,
Anthony Price, Meaford
