Many of you wrote to us in response to the interview given to us by Agriculture Minister André Lamontagne on Thursday morning. Here is an overview of the mail received.
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
Food autonomy and Hydro-Québec
I find that promoting local purchasing is important for many reasons: reducing transport and reducing our ecological footprint, encouraging the local economy instead of encouraging giants, developing food autonomy with new cultivation technologies in greenhouse, local organic farms. Hydro-Quebec should allow lower costs to such companies. We are capable of accomplishing great things in Quebec. When I buy, my motto is “Quebec first, Canada second and elsewhere afterwards”, if I really can’t live without it.
Marie-France Brais
No loyalty to anyone
I believe that the lack of momentum for the purchase of local products is mainly due to the fact that the consumer begins to feel cheated by the increase in prices. It’s hard to argue that it’s transportation costs, because after all, the asparagus doesn’t come from Mexico or Florida, but from the farm next door and the prices are the same, if not higher… Today I only look for bargains and I will wait for next week or the next, on the lookout, to buy at the best price. I don’t feel any loyalty to anyone getting rich on my back!
Jean-Guy Desgagné
Advocacy for organic farming
We buy a lot local AND organic. I like knowing that what I eat has not traveled thousands of miles to reach me and has been produced with respect for nature and without chemicals. Let’s buy better, waste less, encourage our small producers who often fight hard against the domination of multinationals for whom the quality of the product is often not an essential concern.
Johanne Savard
The price dictates the purchase
I don’t often buy local products because they are more expensive than imported products.
Denyse Plante
I buy the cheapest products, wherever they come from. I do not have a choice !
Aline Rochon Valiquette
Buy less, buy better!
Despite the rise in food prices, I prefer to buy local products. Mainly for fruits and vegetables, these are sometimes a bit more expensive than imports, but often tastier. So, I buy a little less, but of better quality.
Claire Maillette
Several benefits
The equation of buying local and reducing our oil consumption as a society is evident in our fight against inflation, not to mention the other benefits, such as the reduction of greenhouse gases, the creation of jobs, the multiplication of initiatives urban agriculture, etc.
Bernard Packwood
It takes money to make piastres
If a Quebec tomato is worth 50 cents more than a Canadian tomato, sorry, but the choice is easy, because it accumulates quickly. As my father used to say, it takes money to make piastres. My wallet is under attack from all sides. Taxes, especially those on gasoline, have an impact on all our purchases that impoverishes me like never before. I will see to my wallet before favoring the purchase in Quebec.
Johanne Plourde
Countering Addiction
The price increase will lead me to make choices about certain foods that I will buy at a discount, but will not influence my principle of buying local. Since the start of the pandemic, I have been constantly on the lookout for food produced here. The events of recent years such as the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have clearly shown us our dependence on other countries and I am more than ever aware of the importance of food self-sufficiency and I strongly encourage this. I even find in my opinion that there are not enough of them.
Mylene Simard, Rimouski