Even when the story is pretty old, the Daily Show finds a way to put a new twist on that story. A large-scale maple syrup heist from Quebec last fall turned into a parody on Mexican drug wars. Oh, Daily Show, you're so NAFTA.
The Daily Show sent Canadian Jason Jones to look into the increasing war over maple syrup, and by way, they mean one heist.
Jones put together several scenes of treating maple syrup as a drug from the ways he tried to ingest to running away from harm due to a bad drug deal. Jones even tries to stay away from the maple syrup, deals with "pushers" who suggest that he try the maple syrup. Once Jones gives in, he goes nuts and chaos ensues.
Jones even referred to Simon Trepanier, president of Fédération des producteurs acéricoles du Québec (Quebec Federation of Maple Syrup Producers) as the Pablo Escobar of maple syrup. Trepanier referred to the maple syrup strategic reserve of 42 million pounds, playing into the idea of treating maple syrup like crude oil.
Tim Shufelt of Canadian Business magazine didn't think that was a far out concept, as he noted that the value of a barrel of maple syrup is worth almost 20x the cost a barrel of crude oil.
The segment played up news reports from Global's Dawna Fresen and a few CBC reports on the loss of $18 million worth of maple syrup. Eventually, there are 18 arrests in the case of those allegedly involved in the theft.
In his investigative mood, Jones infiltrates one of these places that uses maple syrup, Montréal's Le Gros Jambon diner. Jones could have done this without referring to the place, though the restaurant is on my list for my next Montréal trip.
Some of the "pushers" Jones encounters are in Le Gros Jambon (the big ham); one older guy tells Jones he puts maple syrup on his ice cream.
Playing up the Escobar angle, Jones asks Trepanier how he can sleep at night. Trepanier suggests a bit of maple syrup in your coffee or tea before you go to bed. Trepanier also suggests expanding the realm of Canadian maple syrup to Japan and Europe.
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart airs in Canada on the Comedy Channel and CTV in Canada and Comedy Central in the United States.
photo credit: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
the heist is old, but the clip was pretty awesome. I love maple syrup on pretty much everything, including ice cream. Strangely enough, I don't care for it on pancakes much, I prefer peanut butter on them.
It's a very Canadian kind of heist, I thought.
Posted by: SelahBeth | March 04, 2013 at 03:56 PM
I agree about this being a Canadian kind of heist. A nice image.
Maple syrup makes a great sweetener with homemade pumpkin pie. Flavors go together beautifully.
Posted by: Chad | March 05, 2013 at 02:21 PM