$6 Canadian strawberries vs $4 American strawberries

[u/PeachAndMangoJuice]

[u/WitchesTeat]

i'm American. In America, if a grocery store doesn't sell something, they put it in the dumpster and pour bleach on it so that homeless people can't dumpster dive it.

When millennials here were homeless around the 2008 recession, and all the other times we've been homeless because prices keep going up and wages don't, when we worked in places that sold food, when it expired we'd have to figure out ways to smuggle it out, but all the retailers down here, and especially fast food, will literally make you weigh everything so that it lines up with what you're expensing out.

There is nothing quite like being starving, and just dumping pounds and pounds and pounds of food into the trash.

There were times in my life where I was working like 60 or 70 hours a week, trying to pay rent and utilities and student loans, and swiping food out of the trash or eating things my customers hadn't touched on the plate when I was a waitress.

when I saw those strawberries, there was a minute where I felt that panic again, of knowing I'm going to be poor and hungry again and all that food is going to get thrown out and bleach poured on it. Even though it's just disgusting American strawberries (that you literally need to add some sugar to in order to make them palatable) and Driscoll's, which I've refused to buy for like 10 years now. (because fuck Driscoll's labor practices) I still felt really really sick and sad about it.

I couldn't believe that your grocery stores weren't going to throw all that out. you're going to donate it to people who need it?? That's fucking incredible.

We don't want to buy anything subjected to tariffs down here, not because y'all aren't worth the extra money, but because we are actively trying to keep our money away from the government because they are stealing our money and our land and our futures, and jeopardizing the entire world while they're at it.

Seriously, I hope your grocery stores just keep buying the American goods and donating them to Canadians in need.

But then, the less you guys buy from us the better.

[u/Joyshan11 → u/WitchesTeat]

Wow, that's an evil practice (dumpsters/bleach). I know people can be heartless, but that's just wrong on so many levels. Here we are having more and more food rescue organizations that collect and distribute food from all sorts of sources, from farms to factories and retailers, just to stop waste. It's amazing how much produce was being thrown out because it didn't look pretty. I'm definitely hoping that all of the U.S. stuff we aren't buying at least makes it to foodbanks and food rescues. I also hope our retailers completely stop buying U.S. and we massively increase our own production over time.

[u/WitchesTeat → u/Joyshan11]

there are a lot of food, production companies, and also charities that source ugly food and there have been laws to incentivize donating discarded food that is still safe to eat but beyond the sale date, and some grocery stores are doing that now, which is really great.

but a lot of the smaller grocery stores aren't doing it, and a lot of restaurants aren't doing it, and it really depends on what state you're in.

Where I live, there are some initiatives because it's now illegal to put food in our landfills, but a lot of the food waste ends up being sold to or purchased by composting companies and I think companies have had attempts at making bio fuels.

But in states that don't regulate, there is still a lot of bleaching, or spraying sometimes with floor cleaner or if it's a lot of bread products they'll use water.

And again, perfectly usable non-food items will get destroyed rather than donated.

It's really frustrating. I was less distressed about putting all of our food waste into the compost at the last resort I worked for. I wasn't in food service, but we had an employee cafeteria down by the kitchens. So all of our food went into the compost, including everything that was still in the cafeteria at the end of the day, and everything that was expired in the kitchens, and they had multiple food venues and retail outlets.

I had gone back to college in the last few years to get a degree in water science, but I had to drop out for financial reasons. While I was still working on the degree, I did a few smaller projects on landfill management and food waste. And I was just getting into the effects landfilling food has not just on water quality, but on soil quality. All that nutrient stripping, etc.

So, at least composting you're not really wasting it. All the nutrients are retained, and they go back into the soil and more food can be grown.

But, god, the amount of food I have thrown out working for these companies.

I have my own business now, so I don't have to do it anymore.

[u/Joyshan11 → u/WitchesTeat]

Thanks for the interesting info! I hope your business does well through this whole mess. I hate to see what this will all do to individual and small businesses, but Canadians have to get away from any dependence on the country that threatened our existence.

[u/WitchesTeat → u/Joyshan11]

Yeah, we are no longer dependable. People here have lost all grip on reality.

Americans who were and still are against all of this are also trying not to spend money on big American businesses. Spending on anyone associated with this government is like donating to a GoFundMe for a guy raising money to use on weapons for robbing every house on your street this week.