according to a recent Ipsos Canada study, the Buy Local movement is largely bolstered by older Canadians. Gen Z consumers, on the other hand, are almost six times more likely to switch to an American service such as a bank or telecommunications company, according to the survey.
Carleton University economics professor Frances Woolley noted more than a quarter of youth aged 25-34 are food insecure already. University of Victoria theatre student Samantha Frew said she has heard the calls to buy local. But she still tends to do most of her shopping at Walmart for financial reasons. She also struggles to figure out which companies are wholly Canadian.
“As much as it felt dystopian to go into the liquor store and see posters over all the American liquor, I was like ‘Oh, I wouldn’t have known that unless that poster was directly over it.‘ ”
In Montreal, National Theatre School student Owen Carter said they have boycotted corporations and products for other causes in the past, but cutting out all American goods is proving to be much more difficult.
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Prof. Woolley advises students trying to buy local to shop seasonally.
“Canada grows a lot of things in the summer, not so much in the winter,” Prof. Woolley said. “In winter that means eating things that keep like root vegetables and frozen food.”
She said buying locally does not have to be expensive. She referenced butternut squash and Canadian cabbage, two pieces of produce that can keep all winter and won’t break the bank.
Please forgive me for the copy-paste from another post, but here’s my comment from another posting of this article:
Real Canadian Superstore prices for my hummus since this started:
Swapping from Peru-made lemon juice for my hummus to malt vinegar - cost down from $2.79 to $1.50
No Name Chickpeas to Unico equivalent - $1.50 to $2
Using canola oil and not olive oil as suggested by nearly every recipe - no name olive oil costs $12 for 750 mL whereas canola oil costs $8.29 for 3 L getting you more for less with hardly a change in the recipe
Tahini - found a good recipe from Diabetes Canada that completely removes this ingredient, saving me a solid $10 for a jar
To finish things off, while both Canadian, swapping from sandwich bread to sliced French bread for dipping - $1.97 to $1.25
Cost of hummus ingredients goes from $28.26 to $13.04 with the added bonus that one of those ingredients lasts three times as long.
People need to learn substitutions in their recipes, that alone saved a tonne. I pay more for Canola oil personally cause I get Canola Harvest and not the no name brand since they’re unionized, but even with that in mind you’re paying less than olive oil for like, double the amount.