Why do American grocery stores sell fish and produce from other countries, when we have the ability to grow and harvest in the USA?
On our end: cost and climate. We can't grow everything year round. Additionally, labor in our country is expensive. On their end: demand and revenue. Our country demands and is therefore more willing to pay for many items. Check out the avocado industry some time.
Why do many large grocery stores in Canada have fruit like cherries on sale from the USA instead of Canada? Canadian consumers want Canadian grown food. Even meat which our farmers grow is often from the USA instead of Canada.
It’s not just Canada; fruit and vegetables are seasonal everywhere.I live in California, where a huge amount of produce is grown year-round. Our farmer’s market is always open and I can buy wonderful fresh strawberries, lettuce, oranges, etc. in the middle of winter.However, even here, some local produce is only available seasonally. California cherries are wonderful in May and June, but by the end of June, they’re gone. We’re now getting cherries from Washington state. My immediate area is far too hot in July for greens like lettuce, spinach, parsley and cilantro. It’s too cold in the winter for tomatoes, peppers, or zucchini, so in the winter months those come up from Mexico.Canadian produce is also wonderful, but the growing season for most things is quite a bit shorter than it is here. If you want only locally-grown food, your selection will be limited to what is in season in your location, at any given moment. Most people nowadays aren’t satisfied with that. They want a wide selection, and that means importing food from other regions or countries.
Why do hunters like to kill animals? Why don't they buy store meat where no animals were hurt to make it?
"Store meat" comes from animals. These animals are often fed growth hormones and antibiotics, kept in extremely awful conditions, have little to no decent quality of life, and are NOT killed quickly. Yes, wild meat tastes different. Try some once, there's a world of difference. If there is one thing that we can learn from PETA it would be the story of the honeybee. We've all heard about the huge impact that an increasingly dwindling number of honeybees could have on the environment (lack of pollination so the plants die, a big hole in the food chain that causes everything else to cave in, etc). Humans are just as much a part of the food chain as any other animal. As we can see form the honeybee example, taking a big part of the food chain out is a bad idea and can cause terrible effects. Hunters also help control the population of animals. Without hunters the ratio of animals: available space: available food would be thrown way off. This would cause animals to slowly starve to death over the winter due to overcrowding. Do you not have any sympathy for an animal who slowly and painfully starves because there was too large of a population? I think a quick death by gunshot sure beats slowly starving. When I harvest an animal I get LOTS of meat for the cost of the hunting license and some ammo. That's a pretty low cost way to get food on the table. Also, buying hunting supplies (guns, ammo, calls, tree stands, etc) contributes to the economy. In my neck of the woods there are lots of hunters who contribute some of the meat to the local food pantry. This saves the food pantry a lot of money and provides those less fortunate with food. Hunting also provides jobs. Cabella's, Gander Mtn,, and many DNR jobs exist because of hunting. It is important to keep these people employed, especially in these economic times. The money that I pay for guns, ammo, hunting licenses, etc goes to fund conservation. Hunters are one of, if not the largest, supporters of conservation.
Does Costco get its meat products from local farmers or is it just like McDonald's?
I'm wanting to prove to my parents that doing the vegetarian diet or at least letting me will be healthier, and they told me that Costco(where we do most if not all our grocery shopping) gets its meat from local farmers and slaughter houses and doesn't do the mass production that fast food places have.
What are the top 100 items sold in grocery stores?
Product categories that generate most volume in a grocery store are:Alcoholic beverages (as state, provincial or local laws allow).Baby foods and baby-care products such as disposable diapersBreads and bakery products (many stores may have a bakery on site that offers specialty and dessert items)Books, newspapers, and magazines, including supermarket tabloidsBulk dried foods such as legumes, flour, rice, etc. (typically available for self-service)Canned goods and dried cerealsCigarettes and other tobacco products (as country, state, provincial or local laws allow)Confections and candiesCosmeticsDairy products and eggsDelicatessen foods (ready-to-eat)Diet foodsFeminine hygiene productsFinancial services and products such as mortgages, credit cards, savings accounts, wire transfers, etc. (typically offered in-store by a partnering bank or other financial institution)FlowersFrozen foods and crushed iceFresh produce, fruits and vegetablesHouse-cleaning productsHousewares, dishware and cooking utensils (typically limited)Laundry products such as detergents and fabric softenerMeats, fish and seafoods (some stores may offer live fish and seafood items from aquarium tanks)Medicines and first aid items (primarily over-the-counter drugs, although many supermarkets also have an on-site pharmacy) (as laws allow)Nonalcoholic beverages such as soft drinks, juices, and bottled water (some stores may have a juice bar that prepares ready-to-drink freshly squeezed juices, smoothies, etc.)Personal hygiene and grooming productsPet foods and productsSeasonal items and decorationsSnack foodsTea and coffee (some stores may have a commercial-style grinder, typically available for self-service, or a staffed coffee bar that prepares ready-to-drink coffee and tea beverages)Toys and novelties.Do read this also: How to start online grocery business in India
If you have ever been in a region with a Wegmans and later moved away, what grocery stores did you find that were equally as enjoyable?
I lived in Rochester, NY from 1992 to 1994 while I studied for my MBA at the University of Rochester. Wegman’s was started in Rochester, and we talked about sometimes in class, so we knew it well.Wegman’s, from what I remember, was different from other grocery stores in that it had an extensive prepared foods selection, including places in the store to sit and eat the prepared foods. In addition, Wegman’s had a massive selection of products: lots of foreign foods, for instance, but a really large selection. It was pretty different from other stores. As a single guy going to grad school, it was kind of interesting, but kind of overwhelming for a guy who didn’t care that much about cooking.There’s a store in NY and CT called Stew Leonard’s that consists of about five stores. They aren’t really the same as Wegman’s, but they have some interesting characteristics. First, there’s sort of only one path through the store: the layout is not the typical aisles with the meat in the back. There are a lot of animatronics (like this hen that sings and lays eggs, a cow that moos, and a bunch of other weird stuff).There’s also often people dressed as cows at Stew’s. Sometimes, they have a mini farm out in front of the store, with goats, chickens, pigs and cows. Stew’s doesn’t have a huge selection that Wegman’s does, but it does have extensive produce and meat choices, and it has a very extensive prepared food selection: they’ve got a bunch of Asian dishes, soups, pizzas, etc. that you can take home in little cartons. They sometimes have a cafe that’s separate from the grocery store. They sell a lot of Christmas stuff, including a very large tree lot.Wegman’s and Stew Leonard’s aren’t really that similar, but they are both a unique shopping experience. Wegman’s has done a better job of expanding beyond its initial market. Stew’s seems to be very slow to expand, although this may have had something to do with the fact that the CEO went to jail for about four years because he’d have the accounting system erase some of the cash transactions so he could take the cash to the Caribbean, where it got deposited into an offshore account.Back when Donald Trump’s Apprentice show was fairly popular, Martha Stewart had The Apprentice: Martha Stewart. She did a show at Stew Leonard’s once, and I remember thinking that here was Martha Stewart, a convicted felon, doing a reality show at Stew Leonard’s, which had been run by a felon.