Methodology
Each food purchase was compiled at the time of return home or on average within seven days, for one to two hours per week. When no weight was indicated, we weighed the food ourselves.
The information collected was as follows: the date, the store, the product, the quantity, the price, the presence of organic certification or not, the type of packaging. If the information was available, we also noted: the producer, the origin of the ingredients (country and/or address), the place of processing (country and/or address), whether the product was grown in a greenhouse or not. We also added general comments.
To consider a product as coming from Canada or Quebec, we had to have confirmation that at least 85% of its ingredients came from the province or the country.
The data was recorded for 337 days. We have therefore extrapolated in the case of certain calculations to obtain a more complete portrait over 365 days.
Fluids were recorded in milliliters rather than grams most of the time. To facilitate the analyses, we chose to consider that most of these liquids (drinks, alcohol and oil) had a density very close to 1. We therefore converted 1 liter of liquid into 1 kilogram of liquid (for example for the chicken broth).
Foods were then placed under broad categories for analysis. These categories could be different depending on the needs of these analyzes and the experts consulted. For example, fresh herbs were placed in the “Lettuce and other green leafy” category for carbon footprint calculations, but more generally in the “Fruits and vegetables” category. Milk, yogurt and cheese are proteins for the nutritional analysis, but they are separated from other proteins (meat, fish) in the calculations of mobilized agricultural area.
The average food expenditure of Quebec households for 2019 has been adjusted for inflation according to the Bank of Canada calculator.
Credits
Texts and analyzes by Sarah R. Champagne. Art direction by Claire Dazat. Development by Olivia Gélinas and Antoine Noreau. Photography by Adil Boukind.
For any questions or comments, write to us.
March 10, 2022