Wal-Mart Supercentres

It looks like Wal-Mart is bringing in TWO supercenters to Winnipeg.
CJOB reported that the Regent Avenue will expand 30,000 sq feet. Now Russ Wyatt wants a traffic study within the area done first.

See 20. Plan Approval - 1570 Regent Avenue (Crossroads Station) - Wal-Mart
http://winnipeg.ca/CLKDMIS/ViewDoc.asp?DocId=10031&SectionId=&InitUrl=

Now it looks like the McPhillips location will also become a supercentre
See 56. Variance - 2370 McPhillips Street - DAV 106107/2010C
http://winnipeg.ca/CLKDMIS/ViewDoc.asp?DocId=10038&SectionId=246043&InitUrl=/CLKDMIS/Documents/ba/2010/m10038/56.%20%20dav%20106107%202010c%20-%202370%20mcphillips%20street.pdf

It was only a matter of time.

Wow. that will bring the total number of grocery stores on or near McPhillips, between Inkster and Templeton to 5. 2 Safeway, 1 Stupid store, 1 Zellers, and now a superwallyworld.

Where I live, that gives me a choice of 3 Safeways, 1 Stupid store, 1 Sobeys, 1 Zellers and a Super Wal-mart.

NICE. my grocery bill is going to shrink even more.

I've been trying to shop more local, both at the neighbourhood stores and choosing Canadian or 100-mile at the larger stores (Superstore for myself). I just ordered some beef from Keystone because of their St. Paddy's online sale - 25% off and a free pack of hot dogs!

Anny, I like your avatar.

toban71 wrote:Anny, I like your avatar.

Thanks! My friend took it for me in Thailand.

anny wrote:I've been trying to shop more local, both at the neighbourhood stores and choosing Canadian or 100-mile at the larger stores (Superstore for myself). I just ordered some beef from Keystone because of their St. Paddy's online sale - 25% off and a free pack of hot dogs!

Could you live the 100 mile challenge? Ever see that TV show?

You could only eat what was produced with in 100 miles of your house. That includes herbs and spices. Could you do it for a year?

Imagine, no salt or pepper. How about no fresh lettuce or tomatoes in winter. Is there still a flour mill in winnipeg? Do they get their wheat,barley,oats, locally? You would be reduced to meat, potatoes, and dairy through the winter months.

I won't shop there personally for my groceries, but I'm not complaining if it put's some pressure on my local Sobey's to lower prices further.

I wouldn't shop at a Wal-mart Supercenter or Stupid Store for groceries if you paid me. What little free time I have is too valuable to waste getting groceries. That's what I love about Sobey's, I'm in and out in 30 min or less. That's impossible at StupidStore.

Nope.

We were in Superstore last night at around 8:30. Got our stuff and were out in half an hour...no line ups at all.

It all depends on when you go.

Indeed. I go grocery shopping at 8am-ish. No matter where I go, it is quick and painless (relatively speaking).

grumpy old man wrote:Indeed. I go grocery shopping at 8am-ish. No matter where I go, it is quick and painless (relatively speaking).

I do grocery shopping on Sat or Sunday afternoon - it takes forever no matter where I go.

anny wrote:I've been trying to shop more local, both at the neighbourhood stores and choosing Canadian or 100-mile at the larger stores (Superstore for myself).

When I moved to Winnipeg I was shocked by the high food prices here, given the reports on lower incomes. Since then I had a chance to talk to store managers at both Safeway and Superstore to express my concerns, and they explained that pretty much ALL food in Winnipeg comes from centralized distribution centres in Calgary. So it is the long distance and associated transportation that causes the high food prices here. Manitoba food in those stores may be doubly affected as they get shipped to Calgary first, and the back here to the stores.

I call bullshit.

go to safeway.ca

Check out the weekly flyer for your Winnipeg safeway.
Now punch in a Calgary postal code and check that one.
Now punch in a Toronto postal code and check that one.

Done seeing them as the same yet?

LivingDead wrote:

anny wrote:I've been trying to shop more local, both at the neighbourhood stores and choosing Canadian or 100-mile at the larger stores (Superstore for myself). I just ordered some beef from Keystone because of their St. Paddy's online sale - 25% off and a free pack of hot dogs!

Could you live the 100 mile challenge? Ever see that TV show?

You could only eat what was produced with in 100 miles of your house. That includes herbs and spices. Could you do it for a year?

Imagine, no salt or pepper. How about no fresh lettuce or tomatoes in winter. Is there still a flour mill in winnipeg? Do they get their wheat,barley,oats, locally? You would be reduced to meat, potatoes, and dairy through the winter months.

No, I wouldn't choose to live the 100-mile diet, but it's good to be conscious of what you're buying. I still like, buy, and eat bananas and pineapple, and we certainly don't grow those here. When I have the choice, though, between a bag of US potatoes and a bag of MB potatoes, why not choose Manitoba?

New greenhouse technology also has growers working through the winter, now. www.mbeconetwork.org/archives/eco-journal18%285%29.pdf+wenkai+oriental+vegetables&hl=en&gl=ca&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgMXtE-BMVDsl1-RXdCmJJq1XASfRawwnB_iS1_IXllAqdK7x99U4GQg5UWcjY8iN4GgRuIVfLTf3uFIlMy1geLqka9WvBfrZurPujTXRo9yMEP6e9GamamtrIjEihVgqcFsA3W&sig=AHIEtbQvjmnceEF5p5sFZVYlf3hBEvYLag" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">eco-journal

If Walmart will make an effort to carry local goods, that'll be a different story. I suspect, though, that they have their own line of organics, house brand, etc. and undercut suppliers too much for them to carry brands like Bothwell cheese.

the 100 mile challenge is crap anyway. so much of it so totally not true and for most people completely impossible.

Not impossible to do if you do your research. We buy all of our bread products from Tall Grass Prairie and they use primarily organic locally grown grains and state it on their web site. We use a local butcher who for the most part buys his meat from local farms, chicken and pork (we don't eat beef so not sure where he buys his beef from). When the opportunity presents itself we buy all of our produce from local farmers and farmers markets. Yes it may be more expensive in the beginning planning stage because we have to drive to more than one location but if you plan accordingly, it can be done very effeciently. I also appreciate the fact that sometimes people can't do the 100 mile challenge because of time constraints and for us here in Winnipeg, location, but you can do your best to try to do it as much as possible. Just by making the choice in the local Sobey's or Safeway to read the labels and find out where the item was produced, locally in Manitoba, Canada or if it was imported from outside of Canada can be one way to do your part to reduce the carbon footprint. As well if you look at the products that are imported from outside of Canada, were the imported using the fair trade policy (like the fair trade coffee being sold in most grocery stores). It only takes a few times to do the reading to know which products can become part of your "100 mile challenge". If we all were to do it as much as possible, especially in the summer months with the farmer's markets, maybe the scenario of Peak of the Market monopoly would not be such an issue. One of the other benefits of the 100 mile challenge can be the "road trips" you get to go on in the summer time. They can be fun as you get to see places that you wouldn't normally go to. And it also allows for some great family time.

And where by chance did they get the knives and saws to butcher those animals? Where did they get the stone to grind the wheat? Farmers' markets eh? Do you ask each seller exactly how far they are from your house?

Deank wrote:And where by chance did they get the knives and saws to butcher those animals? Where did they get the stone to grind the wheat? Farmers' markets eh? Do you ask each seller exactly how far they are from your house?

ooo.. and the road trips.. which do you think makes more sense. 50 winnipegers driving 50 miles outside the city to buy a 10 chickens or one truck driving 1000 miles to deliver 5000 chickens?

For the farmer's markets, we usually go to St Norbert's and each stand has their sign posted where they are located. And if they don't then yes we ask, where are they from and where is the produce/vegetables from. If the farm is local but the produce is not, we move on. Some of the farms bring in their produce from other farms so it may not be 100 mile friendly. As for the butcher, because he is a person friend of ours and I used to work for him I know his suppliers so I know that for the most part, his meat is locally raised. As well the bakery, we have become friends with the owners there so we know as well that what they are indicating on the web site is true and we have gone to some of the same farms as they purchase from to visit and purchase product as well. We also buy in large bulk, sharing with other people, meat (pork and chicken) from local Hutterite colonies so we have freezer loads of meat to last us for about 4-5 months.
Like I said, it does take a lot of research, time and planning to do the 100 mile challenge but it is not an impossibility to do. BUT in Manitoba it is not something that can be done 100% of the time because of location and seasonal diversity. But we do our very best. It is a matter of choice, not convenience.

Deank wrote:
ooo.. and the road trips.. which do you think makes more sense. 50 winnipegers driving 50 miles outside the city to buy a 10 chickens or one truck driving 1000 miles to deliver 5000 chickens?

That's definitely something people aren't taking into consideration when they buy into the whole "buy local" movement. Local =/= green. Organic =/= local. Of course, sometimes local, organic, and sustainable can all be one and the same.

When people make the weekly trek out to St. Norbert in the summer, they are contributing to a lot of carbon emissions. The same goes for the farmers driving in with their produce. It's a balancing act.

I think it's a sound recommendation, though, to choose local in-store; the choices you make with your wallet will encourage purchasers to order more local goods.

Keystone is a local supplier of grass-fed beef. Their butchering plant is in St. Boniface and has a retail store, and their meat is sold in several stores in Winnipeg (and served in many restaurants, too).

Lots of Hutterite colonies will deliver meat to the city, so that only one trip is being made. However, this is likely commercial farming at its "best." So, local in this case does not mean sustainable, necessarily.

sorry but to me unless everything used to get that chicken to your plate ( including the plate itself ) is from within 100 miles. I still say its impossible to do the 100 mile challenge.

Heck how would you even begin to do your research without using the phone or internet?

I didn't mean to start a huge 100-mile debate. I was just using it as a point of reference. Sometimes a US product is actually more local than a Canadian product. We are a vast country.

Deank, I think you're being a bit extreme with your take on 100-mile. Don't throw away the baby with the bathwater now! The 100 mile diet was an experiment and challenge, and though the creators still practice it to some degree, they admit that they added back favourite food items into their diet. Just because you don't agree with all the ideas doesn't mean they're all bad.

Not saying the idea is bad. I am saying its technically pretty close to impossible. unless maybe you are down with eating roots and shrubs and animals native to the area. There is a huge amount of hypocrisy is saying that someone is part of a 100 mile diet to save the world... and they are in fact simply passing on the "outside 100 miles" credits to other people.. ie the farmer who buys machinery.. the car dealership who sold them the car made in Tiawan.... etc..

Isn't it worse, though, to compound problems by willfully adding that step of buying the food that has to be trucked if there is a reasonable alternative? Sure, you can argue against any kind of simple or conscious lifestyle by saying that there are all these negations, but we wouldn't get very far in the world without doing the little things, too.