​Tariff Tuesday proves we’re living in “interesting times,” says writer

To the Editor:

Well, Tariff Tuesday has finally arrived and I’m sitting here hoping that whoever has wished us all to live in “interesting times” would quit, soon! I’m also trying to figure out all the many, and various, impacts that are about to descend on our lives.

Firstly, since I’m one of the co-ordinators of the Kincardine Area Good Food Box, I’m concerned about how – in the face of probable rising produce prices – we continue to supply a good range of fruit and vegetables to our clients. Do we raise the price, or shrink the box?

If we raise the price, it may make the box too costly for some buyers and make our Neighbour-to-Neighbour Initiative – the part of the program that gives free boxes to those needing food support - more costly to the program. If we shrink the box, it will be less attractive to buyers and less useful to those needing a free box.

I’m really glad to know that there are many productive growers in our region and the Good Food Box organizers have always encouraged our customers to support them when income resources allow. However, utilizing local growers to supply the Good Food Box would be a considerable challenge.

In February we supplied the area with 192 boxes. That’s 192 times two or three apples, four oranges, a bag of carrots – you get the picture -192 times the 10-12 items in a bin where one item may be two tomatoes of four bananas.

All of the Good Food Box workers are volunteers who are willing to devote one morning per month to a program they have judged to be valuable. If we had to source our produce locally, we – Shirley Steele and I – would find ourselves in unpaid full-time employment!

The other point being that although we’d love to boycott United States (U.S.) produce, can we ensure that our boxes are both nutritious and good value for money with the produce which is otherwise available to us? Answers – polite ones – on a postcard, please.



Members of the Kincardine and District Lions Club present a $500 donation to the Kincardine Good Food Box Neighbour-to-Neighbour program, Feb. 27; in the front, are Lion Carol Stuart and program co-ordinators Wendy Cox and Shirley Steele; and in the back, are Lions Paul Thompson, Scott Stevens, George Ling and Eric Visser
 

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The immediate second impact for me, personally, is that I’ve been recruited by my church to produce The Great Canadian Hot Stew and a Bun Lunch, April 4. On the plus side, I did raise a family without anyone succumbing to malnutrition but on the minus side, since I’ve been living on my own for the past 15-plus years I’ve become a lazy cook!

Now add into that picture the fact that this Stew has to be Great, and Canadian, when I draw the line at cooking any wildlife. I am in the process of sourcing my ingredients and have already refused some totally cheap beef because it originated in the U.S. If you want to know how this particular saga plays out, come to Knox, April 4, between Noon and 2 p.m.!

Thirdly, as a post-Second World War-born Brit, I can still remember ration books, so I was curious to explore how my country of origin managed when resources were scarce. So I scoured the Internet in search of war-time austerity recipes and found a wealth of interestingly-titled ones, such as Duchess Soup – which actually contained no Duchesses – and Lord Woolton Pie which needed no Lords of any kind. Happily, Hot Cheese Salad and Baked Corn and Tomatoes both included what their names suggested.

I will need to research how hot a “brisk” oven is before attempting one of these, but Beans on Toast is one I’m quite confident of handling. And then I got to thinking, how would it be if we shared new or trusted recipes which we have found to be economical, nutritious, and could be sourced locally?

If the local media is willing to post a submitted recipe (or two) of the week, when we find ourselves coming out of this tariff mess, we could compile a souvenir recipe book!

I can envision Resilience Pudding and Canuck Pie, but Squashed Trump Soup would likely be inedible.

Go, Canada!
Wendy Cox
Kincardine