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MADE IN CANADA? PRODUCT OF CANADA? IT’S COMPLICATED
ANDREW COPPOLINO andrewcoppolino@gmail.com
The Bretons in my larder were, it turns out, made in Kitchener, Ontario – but how would you know that if you didn’t contact the company? A label on the front of Post Spoon Size Shredded Wheat and Bran offers another term: “Prepared in Canada” means that the food was prepared in Canadian facilities, with Canadian workers, using domestic and/or imported ingredients. But when I called Post Foods Canada – their 1-800 consumer information agents BSFMPDBUFEJOUIF64mUIFEFUBJMTHJWFO were murky. One Post agent I spoke with said to look for an “Imported” label on the box (there isn’t one) and that the cereal, according to the Best Before information and product 4,6OVNCFST XBTNBOVGBDUVSFEJOUIF64 However, a second call to another agent to confirm said, ambiguously, the cereal iXBTMJLFMZNBEFJOUIF640S$BOBEBu So who knows? While some labelling is unclear, the information on food products can help you decide where to send your shopping dollars. And while some people are calling for a boycott on all American products including food, the degree of opposition and decision to purchase only “Product of Canada” brands is up to you and your family’s budget and philosophy. There’s a nuance to remember here in a complicated supply-line system that isn’t black and white: Canadians working in American stores and food production facilities here in Canada, including eastern Ontario, are earning a living even though the company’s profits are sent south to the American head office. It’s up to you to decide: the key is being mindful about the food you purchase. Food writer Andrew Coppolino lives in Rockland. He is the author of “Farm to Table” and co-author of “Cooking with Shakespeare.” Follow him on Instagram @ andrewcoppolino.
We got a jolt this past week when the blustery U.S. president threatened to upend existing Canada-United States relations with a series of potentially crippling trade tariffs. While we fretted about potential damage, people began looking closely at where their food comes from, how our economy works and the general nature of our trade relationships – especially with our neighbour below the 49th parallel. It stoked a moribund sense of nationalism here: Canadians have been awakened to the realization that we need to not only think local when we make food purchases, but we need to “think national” too. The activation has been less a boycot- ting of American products than a renewed Canadian patriotism triggering a landslide of activity on the Internet by Canadians searching for truly Canadian foods: mem- CFSTIJQPGB'BDFCPPLQBHFDBMMFEi.BEF in Canada-Canadian Products,” for instance, skyrocketed to more than 700,000 people. Though it is not always transparent, discovering “Canadian” foods starts with reading the label on your can of beans, bottle of ketchup or package of cookies. Product of Canada The Government of Canada calls them “origin claims on food labels.” Any infor- mation a food-processing company adds to their labels about where the food comes from, and any attending advertising, must be accurate and not misleading. There are a few labels to understand as you go through the grocery-store aisles. Generally, a food product – let’s say your jar of Bolognese spaghetti sauce – can use the label “Product of Canada” when the vast majority of “major ingredients” in the jar are Canadian in origin and the processing of the tomatoes, facilities and the labour used to make the product are Canadian. A factor of roughly two per cent non-Cana- dian ingredients is permitted: for example, if the chocolate chip cookies you purchased are made in Canada with Canadian flour, butter, eggs, milk solids, salt and baking soda, they can be labelled “Product of Canada” – even though we must import the primary ingredient, chocolate. This is the case generally for spices, many vitamins and minerals, flavouring agents and food additives, as well as cane sugar, coffee and oranges and grapefruits, and other such fruits. A food product claiming to be “Cana- dian” is generally a claim to be a “Product of Canada,” but foods exported and then re-imported into Canada are generally not considered able to make the “Product of
Il n'est pas toujours facile de déterminer ce qui est fabriqué au Canada, ce qui est un produit du Canada ou autre. Avec une chaîne d'approvisionnement alambiquée, acheter canadien n'est pas aussi simple que de lire l'étiquette. (Andrew Coppolino)
Canada” claim, according to Canada.ca. Made in Canada "MBCFMi.BEFJO$BOBEBuPSi1SPVEMZ .BEF JO $BOBEBu NFBOT UIBU iUIF MBTU substantial transformation” to make the food has occurred in Canada – even if many of the ingredients used to make the food are not from Canada. A common example is pizza: when the dough, cheese, mushrooms, pepperoni and tomato sauce imported from outside of Canada are significantly changed – that is “substantially transformed” into a new product – by food workers here in Canada, UIFSFTVMUJTQJ[[BUIBUDBOCFMBCFMMFEi.BEF in Canada.” i.BEFJO$BOBEBuDMBJNTHFOFSBMMZNVTU include a qualifying statement: for instance, a DBOPG$FEBSCMBDLFZFEQFBTGSPN.POUSFBM based Phoenicia Group is “made in Canada from domestic and imported ingredients.” It’s complicated Sometimes, though, it’s unclear that a food product is actually made in Canada, and I’ve collected a few examples here. When you grab a package of “Amooza” cheese strings for your kids (or for yourself), nowhere on the package does it say “Product PG$BOBEBuPSi.BEFJO$BOBEBu Rather, the origin appears merely implied by the familiar blue logo of the Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) and that their milk is being used to make the rather rubbery processed mozzarella sticks. :PVMMBMTPTFFBMBCFMGPSUIFi$IFFTF Corporation of Canada,” a somewhat more difficult entity to pierce but which appears to be linked to DFC. (There is also a curious
MBCFMGPSi$IFFTOBDLT<TJD>5. uXIJDI* could not find in a Google search.) :PVSCPUUMFPG/FTUMF/FTRVJLDIPDPMBUF syrup makes numerous claims: it’s real cocoa, is “rainforest alliance certified” (whatever that means), is iron-enriched with no artificial flavours or colours – and that it should not be refrigerated. :FU EJTDPWFSJOHXIFSF/FTRVJLJTNBEF JTBOPUIFSNBUUFS/FTUMF$BOBEB QBSUPG UIFTVQFSHJBOUGPPEDPOHMPNFSBUF/FTUMF 4" JTMPDBUFEJO/PSUI:PSL 0OUBSJP CVU I had to call the consumer information line listed on the bottle to confirm that the syrup is made in Canada. The labelling on Breton crackers from Canadian- and family-owned Dare Foods requires an Enigma cipher machine to crack the code of letters in the “Best Before” EBUFi$uJOEJDBUFT$BNCSJEHF 0OUBSJP i.u .JMUPO 0OUBSJP i3u4BJOUF.BSUJOF 2VFCFD and “S” Spartanburg, South Carolina.
RÉDACTION EAP nouvelles@eap.on.ca LE RAEO MET EN AVANT LES PRODUCTEURS LOCAUX producteurs locaux de l’est de l’Ontario, en particulier dans les régions de Prescott-Rus- sell, Stormont Dundas & Glengarry, Cornwall et la partie ontarienne d’Akwesasne. Fruits et légumes exotiques, viandes, fromages, alternatives végétales, bières, vins et spiri- tueux primés font partie des produits offerts par ses membres.
Face aux récentes craintes liées aux tarifs douaniers en provenance des États-Unis, le Réseau agroalimentaire de l'Est de l'Ontario (RAEO) intensi- fie ses efforts pour promouvoir son réseau hyperlocal de plus de 150 petits producteurs. L’organisme veut rappeler aux consom- mateurs de l’est ontarien que des produits alimentaires de qualité sont disponibles à proximité, directement auprès des agricul- teurs et artisans locaux. « En tant qu'agricultrice et productrice à petite échelle, ce message est très impor- tant pour ma famille et ma région, surtout en ces temps incertains », affirme Sylviane Dutrisac, propriétaire de la Ferme Butte & Bine Farm et présidente du RAEO. « Il n’y a pas plus local que votre propre cour et nous voulons que les gens de la région sachent que le Réseau est là pour s'assurer qu'ils obtiennent des produits locaux de qualité. » Fondé en 2010, le RAEO est un orga- nisme à but non lucratif qui soutient les
L’objectif du Réseau est de faciliter l’accès aux produits locaux et d’encourager les consommateurs à faire des choix alimen- taires qui profitent à l’économie régionale. j/PVTTPNNFTUPVTEBDDPSERVFMBDIBU local aide tout le monde dans la communauté », souligne Eric Collard, directeur général du 3"&0j/PVTWPVMPOTRVJMTPJUGBDJMFQPVS les gens d’acheter des produits locaux et de se sentir mieux dans leurs choix d’aliments et de boissons. » Pour aider les consommateurs à se tourner vers des options plus locales, le site web du Réseau (https://savoureaston. ca/fr/) propose une mine d’informations sur les producteurs membres, dont la plupart sont situés à moins de 100 km de grands DFOUSFTDPNNF0UUBXBFU.POUSÊBM
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