Per the Star newspapper but alive on twitter and now on the CBC radio..
An off-the-cuff remark by Galen Weston at the Canadian Food Summit has enraged the farmers’ markets community and local food lovers.
“Farmers’ markets are great. . . ,” Weston said Tuesday during a speech to about 600 people at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, but added: “One day they’re going to kill some people though.”
“I’m just saying that to be dramatic though,” he quickly added.
Weston is executive chairman of Loblaw Cos. Ltd, Canada’s largest food retailer, with more than 1,000 stores.
He was talking about building a long-term vision for food in Canada and how to capitalize on the demand for local food. Food inspections are crucial, he insisted.
Robert Chorney, the executive director of Farmers’ Markets Ontario, had to wait until the next session’s comment period for a chance to speak out.
“We strenuously object” to Weston’s remark, he told the delegates. “That was awful.”
Chorney later added: “What (Weston) said was really saddening. It really put a damper on the day for some of us.”
Ontario’s 175 farmers’ markets do more than $700 million in sales every year. Markets are regularly inspected and food is easily traceable because consumers know who they’re buying from, said Chorney. The association says that four surveys since 1998 have shown that 83 per cent of respondents feel market food is as safe or safer than supermarket food.
Weston’s comment set off a series of angry tweets under the hashtag #FS2012.
“A question for Galen Weston Jr: Have you ever been to a farmers’ market?” tweeted Gail Gordon Oliver, publisher and editor of Edible Toronto. “Have you ever REALLY spoken to a farmer?”
“Bold (and unfounded?!?) comment from Galen Weston: one day produce from farmers markets will kill us,” tweeted Sara Zborovski, a lawyer who focuses on regulatory and intellectual property issues in the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries.
The two-day summit is being put on by the Conference Board of Canada, and Loblaws is the top sponsor. The event attracted people from government, agri-businesses, farms and community food organizations.
Some delegates whispered among themselves on coffee breaks that supermarkets sell most of the food that’s recalled by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). They reminded one another that it was Maple Leaf Foods and a Toronto meat plant — not a farmers’ market — that was at the centre of a 2008 listeria outbreak that left 23 people dead and led to a major recall.
Bob Chant, Loblaw Cos.’s senior vice-president of corporate affairs, later elaborated on Weston’s “side comment,” stressing it was made in the context of food inspections.
“The point is about food safety, not about whether farmers’ markets are good,” Chant said. “His thinking is that we need to make inspections happen throughout the entire system.”
Farmers’ Markets Ontario works with Ontario’s 36 public health units, each of which has a “champion” responsible for markets. It has a food safety manual on its website. Toronto Public Health inspects farmers’ markets.
The CFIA manages about 235 food recalls by manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers each year. When the product poses a serious health risk, it issues a public warning.
Spokesperson Guy Gravelle said the vast majority of recalls involve supermarkets and grocery stores, but the agency will investigate complaints linked to mom-and-pop shops and farmers’ markets. He didn’t have statistics available.
Canadian food activist Anita Stewart, a farmers’ market enthusiast who has worked at a grassroots level and with government, said retail operations are heavily inspected and she was willing to cut Weston some slack for his comment.
“I think his speech, by and large, was very eloquent and he has a lot to say,” Stewart said. “I think he just slipped up and I truly don’t believe that he meant it.”
Arlene Stein is director of community programs for Evergreen Brick Works, which runs a year-round Saturday farmers’ market with about 80 vendors. She was sick and couldn’t attend the food summit, but noted that supermarkets like Loblaws are promoting their organic and “fresh local” lines.
Her theory on Weston’s comment? “Farmers’ markets are the competition.”
Considering this is the guy that “when” I had my one channel last year was on the TV, promoting Canadian farmers and local food, I say.. What the ?
Now for a bit more postive news.. A whole town in England has turned all their flower beds, walkways, front yards and basicly any place with dirt into a free garden space to grow food to feed the peaple! Clearly the grass roots movment of needing to create healthy and sound local food is reaching new levels.. to which I say.. GOOD!
Just another Day on the Farm 
Wow, reading your article was great and made me a little sad, too. I’m a reader here in the States, so all of these people and places that you mentioned are totally unfamiliar to me. However, the attitude is very familiar.. I was shocked that that Weston guy would make such a bald, blanket statement. One that is harsh, untrue and really extreme. I think some people would love to get rid of farmer’s markets here in the States , too. As for me, I’m all for local farmers, organic produce etc…because I know where it comes from, how it was grown, and where the money is going.
I’m really i mpressed by what that town in England is doing. That’s really neat!!!!! Thanks for sharing this post today!!! Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather 🙂
Hi Heather
I agree that town in england is doing something really worthwhile and it will be so good for the coming generations that are raised gardening and foraging.
As for Mr. Weston, I will say that I am happy that his stores are sourcing local farm and farmers to work with, but I agree with the other comments, I think they are seeing the bottom line hurt just a bit when it comes to dollars lost to the farmers markets.
Sigh. Grocery stores have their use (I’d love to be able to say “great”, but I can’t go that far), for those who can’t manage to get to Farmers’ Markets or farm gate. One day, they’re going to kill some people, though.”
And until then, they’ll cause untold food waste by insisting on buying only “perfect” food. And they’ll pay farmers next to nothing.
Knowing your farmer is more important than government inspections.
Hear, Hear, I could not agree more, that the farmer does not see near what the food is worth, and that the amount of food that goes to waste in the system is overwhelming to a point.. I do think that goverment inspections is important, (wait before you string me up) I do think its a good thing to know that the lamb I sell was done in a provincally approved family owned and run small butcher shop, I want that stamp on the meat that says, checked and healthy, I want that track back, that says this meat is approved.
Its a safety measure for me and I personally see that as a good thing.
I wouldn’t string you up. 😛 I recognize that a complete lack of regulations is dangerous – my Chinese relatives tell me to never, ever, ever buy any food that comes out of China, for example. I just think that some of the regulations are more restricting than they need to be. Like, for example, milk.
Funny, when Galen Weston’s gaffe was announced on CBC radio, I just snorted and muttered “Wow, what’s the matter? You starting to lose market share to the little guys, or something?”
I’m guessing that The Hundred Mile Diet is starting to have a real effect. This is the same type of big city fear mongering like the Ontario government’s interference. Remember when they attempted to shut down church fundraising with pot luck dinners (like Strawberry Suppers) a few years back?
When are they going to get it through their heads that small producers have more control over what they make/sell and are PROUD of doing things well and that your good reputation and being honourable is really important.
I do think that the 100 mile diet is having an effect. and yes, I do remember them trying to stop pot luck suppers for church fundraisers, didn’t get very far on that did they.. I do think that is taking it a bit to far!
Small farmers do have more control but we still need to have some rules to make sure things are done well, I hate to say it but I have been to some small farms while folks are on a heavy learning curve as new farmers that have sent shudders down my spine, and I have been to old time farmers setups that have done the same.. there are good farmers and there are bad farmers, its important for the customer to take the time to make sure that things are being done well.
I agree completely, that’s what I meant by your good reputation and honour being SO important.
Unfortunately it only takes one slipshod/half-assed/lazy/ignorant move on somebody’s part to have someone get sick and prove Galen Weston’s point, right? (Then watch the witch hunt begin):