Balance of Food

Dine in restaurants when you feel safe, not because of a political stunt

#POLICY: Introducing a new Dine and Discover Program to encourage Canadians to support our local restaurants, while putting money back in your pocket. pic.twitter.com/nrdj0busCM

— Erin O'Toole (@erinotoole) September 8, 2021

Conservative politicians are championing the dining in restaurants. We love dining in restaurants. The dining in restaurants during a pandemic is the concern.

Erin O'Toole is the Conservative Party leader in Canada. The country is in the middle of an election cycle with a September 20 election date. [Sidenote: If you want to know more about this Canadian election, you can read about that in our sibling blog, CanadianCrossing.com.]

The restaurant proposal isn't original: this boilerplate was taken from the UK Conservative playbook. A University of Warwick study linked the plan to a significant increase in COVID-19 cases last August in the UK.

The Canadian proposal does note that this will not happen until conditions improve: “once it is safe to do so.” After all, their party has been complaining extensively about why the election is happening now. Let's try and look at this policy from a non-partisan point of view.

The deal would be for customers to purchase food and non-alcoholic drinks for 50% off but only Mondays through Wednesdays. If you got your food to go, you would pay 100%; this policy is to encourage actually dining in the restaurants.

Your humble narrator wasn't able to support as many restaurants during the pandemic because of not being able to dine inside. No car and no bathrooms limit your options. Dining inside right now has very little personal appeal.

Balanceoffood.com Canada food policy coverage

Toronto is Canada's largest city with amazing restaurants. Being a tourist in Toronto, even before the pandemic, means limited restaurant choices on Sundays and Mondays. This is true in Toronto than any other city I have visited as a tourist.

A lot of restaurants have added Tuesdays or Wednesdays to the list of closed days during the pandemic. Not enough workers or not enough customers: either way not much business.

This policy was popular in the UK in increasing traffic to restaurants though maybe a little too popular.

The sad reality is Canada (and the United States) is that dining in is considered part of the entertainment dollar given how low wages are predominant in the vast majority of the populations. People miss eating out and being served.

The idea that the simple joy of eating out has become a political issue is rather sad. Liberals and centrists also like to eat out though they generally has less money to eat out than conservatives do, though a lot of poor people also vote conservative.

Non conservatives want people to eat out when the situations are safer. They are not against eating out; they want a safe environment.

Your humble narrator is only one person who can't afford to eat out much but has done so outside. Canada does get quite cold in the late fall and winter. Eating in will be more tempting. Will customers feel safe doing so, even with a 50% decrease in cost?

BalanceofFood.com politics coverage

Such an offer wouldn't be so bad if this was part of a larger proposal to help restaurant owners and their employees guide them through a terrible pandemic. Alas, this hasn't been true for conservatives. The proposed policy is gimmicky; short-term help when people need longer-term help. The proposal only covers a month: 12 days of discounts. Not a lot, especially for restaurants that have struggled to adjust to carry out, takeaway, and delivery.

Restaurants would have to find more people to stock those days in the hopes that those days would be busy enough to open. Would customers tip on the full value of the meal instead of the actual cost. 50% off is great for the customer, not so much for the worker.

Restaurant wages without tips in North America are literally sub-human, well below the pathetically low minimum wages.

The irony of the offer is you might be tempted to participate at a restaurant that wouldn't be too popular (for social distancing) yet if the proposal works, the restaurant might be too packed for your comfort.

In the UK, the government isn't having an election anytime soon. Canadian voters are going to the polls so you would have to vote in that party to get the deal.

Find a creative way to support restaurants. Wear a comfortable jacket when the weather gets cooler. Beg a friend with a car to pick up your food so the restaurant makes more money on that meal. Dine in a restaurant … when conditions are a lot safer.

Twitter capture: @erinotoole
photo credit: me

CBC Marketplace in Canada breaks down the nutrition in conventional vs. organic eggs

Eggs provide amazing nutrition, versatility, and taste for a relatively low amount. Somehow, the cost ends up being a factor, especially when measured as "mainstream" versus organic or similarly grown eggs.

A $1.80 difference in cost for a dozen eggs comes out to 15¢ per egg.

We are on the side of Team Organic or similarly grown eggs. Taste, quality, and fresh are advantages. "Mainstream" eggs aren't that fresh by the time they get to the grocery store. We would also argue nutritional advantages, including Omega 3s. The chicken's health and sanity, which we believe leads to better eggs, is highly important.

CBC Marketplace took a look at the nutrition stats for "mainstream" vs. big organic sources. They also looked at farm eggs vs. larger organic outlets.

"In Marketplace's test, organic eggs produced on small farms had more nutrients than the big-brand organic eggs sold at Canada's largest grocers under private labels and by two of the largest egg brands in the country."

The general consensus was that the nutrition of "mainstream" eggs and big organic companies were comparable. The organic eggs had a nutritional edge but within 10%.

You can read more analysis from the program on specific brands and comparisons.

We are not generally surprised by the Marketplace results. They were comparable to what we would have concluded without doing any comparisons. If you are making your conclusions based solely on nutrition, and cost is a concern, you have the numbers to justify your decisions.

This winter, I had to find a new source of eggs since my winter source went out of business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. I found a different local source that has worked out well.

I haven't bought any eggs from a conventional grocery store in years nor have I purchased organic eggs from a large company in a long time. That may sound like snobbery. Perhaps. My reality is that I don't eat that many eggs. The last eggs I used were for a lime curd.

I will gladly pick cheaper options for some products where I don't see a significant issue in quality. That saved money allows me to make smarter choices in certain categories. Eggs is one of those categories.

Wouldn't pay twice as much as I pay not for my eggs. Glad I don't pay what Canadians pay for eggs (according to the numbers posted by Marketplace). Would rather give the money to local farmers.

Farmers benefit more than consumers with Canada supply management

Peterborough Farmers Market loses perspective on the value of farmers markets

Subway Canada chicken comes up short on chicken, according to CBC Marketplace

Egg recall proves food producers are 'too big to fail'

Balanceoffood.com Canada food policy coverage

BalanceofFood.com farmers market coverage

As we noted earlier, "taste, quality, and fresh are advantages." There are dishes you can do with fresh eggs that you would be less likely to try without fresh eggs. In making fresh pasta and aioli, color, fresh, and taste would be crucial. If you are coloring eggs for Easter, the "mainstream" eggs would be useful.

Select what foods are important to you, for whatever your reasons might be, and invest well in them. Maybe you can sacrifice the cost of a high-price, extravagant coffee drink. Buying direct from a farmers market eliminates a costly layer by getting the eggs faster and fresher from the source.

Make your own best choices.

video and photos credit: Marketplace/CBC

Cheap pizza comes to Canada but at what cost

Editor's note: Our colleagues at our sibling blog — CanadianCrossing.com — had a really nice story on the impact of the lame CUSMA trade deal where cheaper American-based pizza cheese has flooded the Canadian market. Cheaper food is tempting but not when the quality suffers. We have reposted the story here, complete with permission from CanadianCrossing.com.

Pizza is considered a cheap food … in the United States. Pizza in Canada may be relatively cheap but expensive compared to the United States.

Over the many years we have tracked Canadian ads through MLB Extra Innings or NHL Center Ice, we have noticed the shockingly high prices of pizza in Canada. The pizzas in the ads didn't look that great and the prices were through the roof.

You would see side deals involving soft drink bottles and movie tickets to make the pizza seem not as expensive.

The usual explanation for why pizza in Canada is more expensive is the cost of high-quality Canadian cheese. This explains stories every few years about pizza cheese shenanigans in Canada.

There are conditions to get a pizza in Canada for $7.99 or a similar low price. You have to buy multiple pizzas or provide a code or know the sale is for a very limited time.

Little Caesar's is offering a classic with Crazy Bread for $7.99. Pizza Hut is offering a buy one, get one free pizza. Domino's is offering unlimited, 2-topping pizzas for $7.99. Greco is offering the $7.99 12" mediums when you buy 2 or more pizzas with regular toppings.

Farmers benefit more than consumers with Canada supply management

CUSMA | USMCA aka NAFTA 2.0 allowed cheaper, lesser quality American-based cheese to come into Canada. We don't know for certain, but that is the most logical reasoning behind the sudden arrival of cheaper pizza in Canada.

Domino's mentions Canadian cheese. Are the pizza companies using a mix of Canadian and American- based cheese? Are they using Canadian cheese only but desperate to lure customers over to pizza?

There is (sadly) the possibility that some Canadians don't care that their pizza cheese is American. They may think a cheaper price on a pizza in Canada is worth eating inferior cheese. They may like Canadian cheese but not at the prices they were paying.

Normally, your humble narrator would weigh in on the experience of eating pizza in Canada and compare this to the American standards. Unfortunately, due to an intolerance to mozzarella cheese, I am sadly not the expert. I can vouch for the Crazy Bread since there is no mozzarella.

Pandemic pizza is not a thing but can imagine that pizzas are more popular in a pandemic since you don't have to cook and pizzas come pretty quickly to your home. Having cheaper pizza is an advantage if you lost your job and/or CERB (and similar programs) not stretching far enough.

Canada milk producers threatened with invasion of cheaper American milk

BalanceofFood.com Canada coverage

As our sibling blog — BalanceofFood.com — would note, quality food does cost more. The question for Canadian dairy is whether the quality is worth the higher prices.

If our American readers crossed over to Canada to eat better quality cheese on Canadian pizzas, we wish you much luck in finding that once the border has reopened. Perhaps a local pizza chain might do better than a national chain.

CanadianCrossing.com trade coverage

The quality of food in North America is not as easy to find as opposed to Europe. You search more and you definitely pay more. Wages haven't kept up in North America so the pressure of cheap food is a reality for most people on the continent. Would be a shame to lose something that is of quality and distinctly Canadian thanks to a lame trade deal that dumped cheap cheese in Canada.

photo credit: Greco pizza
video credits: individual pizza companies

Trickster gives us a peek into the world of food banks

We barely see the impact of food banks on the local news or cable news channels. They may show a long line of cars or packing boxes into a car. The personal transaction ends up happening all the time without a camera in sight.

The example that the TV show Trickster shows us about food banks is not a typical personal transaction. Turns out the young woman Sarah (Anna Lambe) volunteering at the food bank is the girlfriend of the customer Jared (Joel Oulette). Jared didn't know Sarah was working there before going into the food bank.

The scene happened in Episode 4 of what turns out to be the only season for Trickster, airing on the CW in the United States and CBC in its native Canada. Trickster takes place in a remote area of Kitimat, British Columbia, far away from the bright lights of Vancouver. Even the fast food place where Jared worked doesn't provide cheap meals.

Jared's mother is missing. The power had been turned off and all the food was ruined. A lot of drama for him as well. Jared definitely needed help.

Sarah starts out with peanut butter: "Smooth or crunchy?" Jared replies, "Smooth." Sarah teases him about his choice but says she isn't there to judge.

"Kraft Dinner or canned spaghetti?" Jared isn't sure so Sarah gives him both. (In Canada, Kraft Dinner is Kraft Macaroni and Cheese in the United States.)

He asks for beer. She said, "All yours if I did." You aren't going to find beer in a food bank.

Sarah loads a few more items into a box.

In the next scene, Jared offers her a chocolate pudding from the box.

Trickster is a show about an Indigenous community. The creators and producers thought showing such a scene was important to show the world where these people live. Jared feels a bit of shame when he realizes his girlfriend is on the other side of the table at the food bank. Sarah quickly reassures me that it's cool.

The sign for the Kitimat Community Harvest says: Distributing food; Community recycling; Resources for Families; Neighbourhood events. Yes, food banks are a way to supplement food and be a part of the community. The people behind the table and in front of the table are all human beings trying to create a better world.

Hard to Stomach brings home the ongoing concern of food insecurity

Food banks now more important than ever in COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic

Vote for a better food policy on Election Day

BalanceofFood.com Canada food policy coverage

People who go to food banks shouldn't feel shame, even if they do know people behind the counter. The need for food banks for people, employed or not, was gigantic before the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people who received the unemployment supplement last summer went over 6 months without any federal assistance. Many who ran successful small businesses haven't been able to get the PPP loans where the rich were able to get so much.

A 6-episode series in Canada had the foresight to have a scene involving a food bank in a TV drama. A small step but more needs to be shown to show there is no shame in needing a food bank. The Republicans in Congress have blocked financial help to the poor and middle-class in the United States. Turning to a food bank is becoming the new norm in the United States. Time to make that experience to be the opposite of shame. You are standing up for you and your family to provide food. There is no shame in helping your family eat.

Trickster is available in the United States on the CW Network. Our Canadian friends can watch the episodes on CBC Gem.

photos credit: Trickster/CBC/CW

Hard to Stomach brings home the ongoing concern of food insecurity

Years ago, we ventured into podcasts on various food topics. We may return to that format in the future.

Hard to Stomach is a podcast devoted to food insecurity issues and the use of food banks. The podcast is from CBC Radio in Canada and focuses on Ontario.

The podcast started out in 2019 with Season 1 host Nana Aba Duncan. The podcast features people on the giving and receiving ends of the food bank transactions.

Season 1 came out well before the pandemic. The contrast between northern and southern Ontario is vast given the difficulty of getting food into Canada's north. As an example, a 2018 paper from the Northern Policy Institute noted that for northern districts such as Kenora, a family of 4 would have to pay out $160 more per month than a similar family from Toronto.

The Hard to Shake podcast episode covered the ignorance and misunderstanding of why people use food banks. The That One Thing podcast episode asked the common question: "what would have helped you when you needed it" in terms of help and food security.

BalanceofFood.com Canada food policy coverage

Season 1 has 4 episodes that gives the basics of food insecurity. Season 2, hosted by Jason D'Souza, has 3 episodes that delve more into economic uncertainty and affordable housing.

Season 2 comes out well into the pandemic. The podcast noted that while 4.5 million Canadians were food insecure before the pandemic, those numbers grew by by 39%, adding 1.7 million into the food insecure column in the first 2 months.

A Complex Puzzle podcast episode from Season 2 pointed out the great help that Canadians go through CERB and other government help. This will be a contrast to the great lack of help offered up by the U.S. government, thanks mostly to the GOP Senate members.

CERB offered $500/week until late September. The benefits were transferred over to enhanced EI (Employment Insurance) even though some lost benefits in the transfer.

The podcast noted that the Ontario government gave $8 million to Feed Ontario at the beginning of COVID-19. The federal government $200 million to organizations across the country. This was in significant contrast to what has happened in the United States.

Season 2 also talks about food sovereignty within communities so they aren't always at the whims of what food banks provide. This also helps communities get better nutrition.

Season 1 is a lot more helpful to explain the impact of food insecurity. Season 2 doesn't really add to the conversation too much. This was a lost opportunity, given how much worse food insecurity has grown in the COVID-19 pandemic. Both seasons will draw a basic map if you know absolutely nothing on the topic.

BalanceofFood.com Canada podcasts coverage

The podcast episodes are not very long. Season 1 has 92 minutes in 4 episodes with Season 2 with 3 episodes that take up 42 minutes combined.

The focus is limited to Ontario within Canada yet the issues discussed could be anywhere in North America.

You can subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your podcasts. You can read more about the podcast.

photo credit: Hard to Stomach podcast/CBC Radio

Canada milk producers threatened with invasion of cheaper American milk

Being a classic regular milk drinker, if you suddenly had a milk option come into your local market that was significantly cheaper, would you automatically switch to the cheaper milk?

Milk is already pretty cheap in the United States. The cost level depends on your interest in organic, regular, UHT, shelf-stable milk.

Canadians have rather good milk. They pay a hefty price for milk, but they get quality milk.

The newest trade deal between the United States, Canada, and Mexico (CUSMA | USMCA) means Canadians will get access to cheap American milk. Depending on the import costs, the savings could be $1-$2 for 4 liters (slightly more than 1 gallon).

UHT milk provides longer shelf life but nutrition and taste are lost

Farmers benefit more than consumers with Canada supply management

There is one distinct difference between the standard milk in both countries: recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), the artificial growth hormone allowed in American milk but banned for Canadian milk.

Canadian milk is already very good milk. Unfortunately, as we've noted in other stories, food budgets in the two countries are tight thanks to wage shrinkage and job growth in certain industries.

If you live in Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes, your milk could come in a bag. The individual liter-sized bags are placed in a pitcher; the user cuts a diagonal slice into the top corner closest to the spout in the pitcher. The process (pronounced PRO-cess in Canada) is easier than it sounds. You won't find American milk in a bag.

The American milk will need to be labeled in English and French, since Canada requires bilingual food labeling.

American dairy companies might try to get around this by shipping its products to be used in cheese, yogurt (yoghurt in Canada), and butter. The milk products should be identified as American; as we've seen from meat classification between United States and Canada, country of origin labeling has been a concern. Consumers should know where their food comes from, especially with rBST.

CUSMA passes through U.S. Congress

NAFTA 2.0, er, USMCA is a nightmarish trade deal for Canada

Canadian milk is more expensive because Canadian dairy farmers get better compensation. The U.S. government encourages overproduction of American milk so trade deals are engineered to dump cheap American milk onto other countries, such as Canada.

The supply management system in Canada is politically protected. Liberal, Conservative, NDP: all behind supply management.

Given the number of U.S. dairy farms that are going under, Americans should consider a smarter dairy management system with better compensation.

Consumer cost of milk, cheese, butter, and other dairy products needs to be weighed (whey-ed) against the quality of the product and the compensation for farmers.

Canada election 2019 is underway and food policy should be discussed

BalanceofFood.com Canada food policy coverage

The new trade deal is expected to go through on July 1.

photo credit: Dairy Farmers of Canada
video credit: YouTube/pincstuff

Will COVID-19 play a role with farmers markets?

In a new era of social distancing, farmers markets remain a personal way to get fresh produce and converse with the person who created the food.

New York is banning gatherings of more than 500 people. San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose all have bans of more than 1,000 people. Washington Governor Jay Inslee set the mark at 250 in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties (Seattle metro area). All the bans are tied to reducing the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Most of the country does not have to worry about a local farmers market reaching those proportions, even in good weather. The bans could become more significant as the weather warms if COVID-19 doesn't ease in its growth projection.

The Pike Place Market in Seattle covers a lot of ground. You can certainly find more than 250 people in nice weather. Pike Place has a lot of buildings as well as the open market so that might not be an issue under the Washington state ban.

The Ferry Building Farmers Market in San Francisco likely doesn't hit 1,000 but there are usually several hundred people across the front and south side of the building on Saturday mornings.

The Green City Market in Chicago doesn't go outdoors until May. Chicago's brand new mark is 1,000. The market draws a few hundred people at a time, nowhere near 1,000.

As the weather improves, markets might become a concern. Other Chicago markets start in May, especially in downtown Chicago.

Even if crowds are a concern, there could be bouncers, limiting access until other people leave.

Crowd bans reduced in size even further could impact farmers markets.

The farmers coming to the markets also have to deal with the potential of a coronavirus. That might unnerve some farmers from coming to markets.

BalanceofFood.com farmers market coverage

Here at BalanceofFood.com, we don't like scaring readers into something or away from something. That isn't our style. We worry about farmers and farmers markets. The hope is the conditions in North America will improve by May.

We also recognize that May is a long way away in terms of where the COVID-19 coronavirus will be in North America. We worry because farmers markets are a good habit that may be difficult to reclaim if lost due to a pandemic.

Short-term sacrifices are a concern. Long-term damage to farmers markets would be a greater concern.

photo credit: me

Meat and dairy want authentic labeling but not across the board

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" — Juliet from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.

In the world of fake news, we have fake cheese, fake burgers, fake milk. Several states has passed laws prohibiting the marketing of products as "milk," "rice," and "sausage" if they aren't actually milk, rice, and sausage. 

Veggie burgers and soy milk have piggybacked on the backs of burgers and milk to show what the product is supposed to represent. Manufacturers weren't concerned when they had a small percentage of food sales. The increased interest becomes the theoretical threat.

Consumers don't get home with groceries thinking that grabbed meat or milk when they haven't. They know what they are buying.

Soy beverage or veggie patties aren't that different from soy milk and veggie burgers.

Having empathy or sympathy for meat and dairy manufacturers would be easier if they were equally as concerned about the defense of meat and cheese across the board.

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The United States is the land of pasteurized process cheese food, made from not less than 51 percent by "optional cheese ingredients." The USDA says any "meat taco filling" should at least have 40% fresh meat.

The obvious argument is that these products do contain meat and cheese, not a lot of them.

They are upset over soy milk but think non-dairy creamer is okay. Canada has the sensibility to call that product coffee whitener.

Fight these battles and then we can talk about soy milk and veggie burgers.

What's Tempting: Eating real cheese

The argument is that soy milk and veggie burgers are deceptions. Consumers know they aren't the real thing. Using the words "cheese," "dairy," "meat," and "creamer" are far more deceptive.

photo credit: Sargento

Checking out Canadian food ads from fall 2019 NHL Center Ice free preview

Editor's note: The following is a slightly condensed version of a feature from our sister blog, CanadianCrossing.com. The full feature can be found here. The column is reprinted here with full and complete permission.

Eggs for breakfast make sense. Eggs for lunch? The brother thinks eating eggs for lunch is weird. The sister thinks eggs for lunch is fine. Then again, the sister thinks her brother's girlfriend looks like their mother. That might be a little weird. Eggs anytime is fine.

Another Tim Hortons trading cards zamboni ad with Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon is not that exciting. What is exciting is the new addition to the ads. Recently retired NHL Hockey Night in Canada legend Bob Cole is the voice of the Tim Hortons ad. You have to love that Cole is 1) still working; and 2) is still a part of the NHL even via an ad for a donut shoppe. Take that, Rogers.

"If food matters to you, you're a food lover."

Food lovers might not be into canned cranberry sauce. The Loblaw's ad lets us know you can be a food lover who is into canned cranberry sauce. Aimed for Canadian Thanksgiving, the ad can work for the American readers for the U.S. Thanksgiving.

Jon Hamm thinks he is a real Canadian in this latest incarnation for Skip the Dishes. Hamm thinks he is now a Canadian citizen and wants to celebrate by having food delivered.

Turns out Hamm's citizenship was denied even though he bought a Moose Jaw, Yellowknife, and a Sault Ste. Marie (whatever that is). These ads have been hilarious. Hopefully, more Americans will find out Hamm is funny.

How the [bleep] did Pepsi get the rights to the old Hockey Night in Canada theme? TSN/Bell Media got the rights to the song when the CBC let the rights go free. Having the song play in a soft drink ad reduces the impact of the song when played for real. We see what Pepsi gets from it but Bell Media's motive can't just be money. If the song had to play in an ad, that song should run in a Canadian company commercial.

BalanceofFood.com advertising coverage

The relatively low standards of North American fast food is the platform where Harvey's can brag about being the first national fast food chain to offer 100% Canadian beef in an angus burger with no antibiotics, steroids, or added hormones.

I haven't had a Harvey's burger for a very long time, mostly because I haven't found a location lately. I would likely want to find a place, such as one I found in Toronto, where I could get all of that AND have the burger cooked medium-rare (because they grind their own beef). In a pinch, I might try this burger.

At Wendy's Canada, you can get jalapenos, onion tanglers, and avocado on any dish. This concept is aimed at burgers but French fries with onion tanglers sounds really good. Onion tanglers look like what Americans would call onion strings. Cliff's Notes and Cole's Notes are the same idea but the former is American while the latter is Canadian. You can go over those notes while at Wendy's with a jalapeno burger.

videos credit: all the respective companies
photo credit: Choose.ca

Ethnic food aisles should be seen as an opportunity without stigma

If we consider "ethnic food" to be insulting as a concept, then the ethnic food aisle in the grocery store should hang out with the dinosaurs.

Or does the ethnic food aisle serve some useful purpose, no matter how awkward the concept is in late 2019.

As a white person of a certain age, I wouldn't profess to know the damage the concept of "ethnic food" entails in some communities. I grew up some time ago in a small town where the "exotic" food was Mexican, Italian, and Chinese.

When mainstream grocery stores first put in an "ethnic food aisle," they were seen as progress to carry foods from different countries not traditionally stocked at the store.

If a grocery store had 12 aisles, 11 of them were for "regular food" i.e., "American food." There would be part of an aisle devoted to Italian since Italian food didn't fall into ethnic or regular. Italian food essentially was defined as spaghetti, red sauce, and green cans of grated "parmesan" cheese.

I live in a large city where there are a lot of "ethnic" supermarkets. There are no "ethnic" aisles in these supermarkets. Supermercado became a word in my vocabulary for primarily Mexican supermarkets. I have frequented East Asian, African, South American, Eastern European, and Middle East markets without leaving the city limits.

I also frequent "mainstream" markets with ethnic aisles. They are my favorite part of the store. The cool foods are in the "ethnic" aisle.

I do get the perception of the color of skin associated with "ethnic" foods. Though Scandinavian foods fall into ethnic and the people are pretty white. British foods end up in the ethnic section. Mexican food is making its way outside the ethnic food aisle.

"Ethnic food" can also be foods that Americans don't generally understand. Let's be honest: Americans aren't the most enlightened people when other cultures are involved.

This is my argument for an "ethnic food aisle" in a way. The aisle is a way to say "these foods exist. Travel a bit by going down the aisle."

If grocery store data showed that people were avoiding this aisle because of the "strange" foods, that would be a compelling case for not having an ethnic food aisle.

The logical alternative would be to scatter those same foods in different areas of the grocery store so consumers would go down every aisle. Some foods could easily fall into categories in other aisles. Other foods might struggle to find a logical spot.

The "ethnic food aisle" has changed as American tastes change. Some foods have moved away to other aisles.

"If you go to the ethnic food aisle, that is sort of the last bastion of racism that you can see in full daylight in retail America," chef David Chang said on his Ringer podcast in July.

The stigma of feeling different because of different foods is a real pain experienced by second-generation immigrants and others.

The Canadian sketch troupe Tallboyz had a sketch on its CBC television show this fall about a restaurant set in a secondary school cafeteria complete with lunch shaming.

The food would be outstanding but served with a bullying or shameful factor that would take you back to awkward childhood moments.

Tim Carman's story in The Washington Post points to a different reality. Sales of international food items did better when there was an ethnic aisle in the grocery store. Customers knew where to find the foods because they knew where to go.

The United States (and Canada) are countries where the grocery store experience is more multicultural. Sometimes that comes with pitfalls such as the "ethnic food aisle." Many countries have more of a homogeneous shopping experience.

A compromise might be to keep the convenience of an "ethnic food" aisle but reduce the stigma of the foods in the aisle.

BalanceofFood.com world food policy coverage

Educating consumers about the foods might be a nice way to bridge cultures. A museum type experience where people can press a button to hear a story about the foods in front of them. A tap of a smartphone to a QR code can lead someone to a Web page that explains the food. Consumers can take pictures (subject to grocery store policy), go home and do a Web search and find out more about that food.

Explore an atypical supermarket on a rainy weekend afternoon. Look at labels; there may be a foreign language as well as English on the label. Buy something and create a weeknight meal tied to that food or culture.

Shedding the walls of "ethnic food" is easier when we experience something different than what we used to having. If you love ravioli, try pierogies or pot stickers. If you like a club sandwich, try a shawarma. If you love fried chicken, try Korean fried chicken.

Traveling the world in food doesn't require a passport or shots. All food and no food is ethnic food.

photos credit: me (2); Tallboyz/CBC (2)