food – Courrier Laval news

Does the cost of food have you thinking about growing your own vegetables?

Courrier Laval News — Fri, 21 Apr 2023 15:27:19 +0000

If the rising cost of food has you thinking about growing some of your own vegetables this year, you are not alone.

And a backyard vegetable garden comes with a number of benefits:

Eating fruits and vegetables is one of the most important things you can do to stay healthy.
Growing some vegetables at home can help make eating healthy easier.
Gardening boosts physical activity.
Gardening is a natural stress reliever.

Home gardeners, like farmers, sometimes have to manage threats from insects, weeds and diseases. Here are a few tips for warding off unwanted pests in your vegetable garden.

Tips to keep the pests away:

Plant companion flowers like marigolds and sunflowers that naturally discourage bugs from invading your garden.
Plant in straight rows to make cultivating, harvesting and insect control easier.
Monitor regularly for pests – catching the problem early is key! (Tip: remove the bottom third of leaves on tomato plants to help prevent mould and rot.)
Remove weeds and insect-ravaged plants.
Encourage beneficial insects (consider bordering your garden with plants that provide food sources like flowers that are rich in pollen and/or nectar).
When necessary, apply a pesticide to control your specific pest problem. Consider whether you can target a specific problem by spot spraying rather than spraying the entire garden. (Note: all pesticides available in stores in Canada have been reviewed and approved by Health Canada. Just follow the label directions.)

(Source : News Canada)

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Return of the Terraces étoilées at Centropolis

Courrier Laval News — Mon, 12 Dec 2022 13:31:01 +0000

For a second year, the Centropolis will host the Terrasses étoilées, allowing those interested to share a meal in one of the three bubbles fitted out, and heated on its Central Place.

That experience, made in collaboration with Illumi, offers an interesting light concept that revolves around the polar world, including penguin and moose structures.

As in 2021, six restaurateurs will take turns to offer a special, or regular menu in those bubbles. Juliette & Chocolat launched the initiative in the week of Dec. 5–11, being followed by Jack Astor’s restaurant for the period of Dec. 12–23.

After a holiday break, the bubbles will be reopened, through Zibo!, providing service from Jan. 9–22. It will be succeeded by restaurants Les Enfants Terribles (Jan. 23 to Feb. 5), Le Balthazar (Feb. 6–12) and Enoteca Monza (Feb. 13–26).

Juliette & Chocolat will be back to close the season during the week of Feb. 27 to March 5.

Those interested must book in advance, directly online. Two time slots are available each evening, at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. (N.P.)

translated by Alec Brideau

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Opening of the New Maxi in Laval

Alec Brideau — Sat, 26 Nov 2022 16:08:52 +0000

A new Maxi officially opened in Laval yesterday, as major multi-million dollar renovations saw the conversion of the old Provigo into this new store, on René-Laennec Boulevard.

The management and presidency of that new Maxi was there to officialize the opening. A photo with ribbon cutting to immortalize everything also took place.

It’s Patrick Gauvreau, Maxi’s director, who had the honour of cutting the ribbon. (Photo courtesy)

In addition, store manager Patrick Gauvreau highlighted the opening with a donation to help the community. Gauvreau donated $5,000 to the Centre de bénévolat et Moisson Laval (CBML), an organization whose goal is “to ensure the supply and fair redistribution of foodstuffs to organizations working in food security, and to individuals in difficulty,” a press release specified.

Many people were already there yesterday for shopping, taking advantage of the new colours of the place and the staff on site, present to welcome the new customers.

“We’re looking forward to see our customers, and are firmly believing they will discover this new store with enthusiasm,” said Gauvreau.

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The CBML Launches its Christmas Basket Campaign

Courrier Laval News — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 14:04:17 +0000

The Centre de bénévolat et moisson Laval (CBML) is launching its 38th Christmas basket campaign, which will be held from Nov. 14 to Dec. 21 in Laval.

The organization is calling for the generosity and solidarity of the Laval business community, as well as the the population during this holiday season, which promises to be difficult for many.

Having experienced a record increase in requests for food aid over the past year, the CBML has no choice, but to increase its number of Christmas baskets. Thus, the organization will distribute 200 more baskets than in previous years, bringing the number to 2,500.

“Since the beginning of October, in addition to the daily requests for food aid, people have been contacting us to make sure they’re having their Christmas basket,” said by press release José Haeck, head of the emergency food aid counter at Moisson Laval. “The requests are exploding, and the phone keeps ringing.”

“The general increase in the cost of living has caused an unprecedented increase in our requests for food aid,” added in the same press release Jean Gagnon, general manager of the CBML. “Facing this societal issue, we have decided to help as many Laval residents as possible, and distribute 200 additional Christmas baskets.”

This year, in addition to the 2,500 Christmas baskets to fill with food, the organization has set itself the goal of raising $350,000 in monetary donations. That expected amount of money will help the organization in its operations surrounding their annual campaign.

Until the end of December, the population, businesses and all public institutions in Laval are invited to take part in this major food drive, which will be used to feed 2,500 families. The distribution of Christmas baskets will take place from Dec. 18–20, at the CBML, assisted by 250 volunteers. (A.B.)

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Whyte’s: A Difficult Decision

Alec Brideau — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 12:53:34 +0000

Whyte’s announced yesterday the closure of its factory, located in Sainte-Rose, Laval.

The closure, scheduled for December 30, can be explained by persistent labour shortage problems.

Claude Brière, Vice President Sales and Development of the business, says Whyte’s has difficulty with the labour shortage since more than two years.

“For the past few years, we’ve been working extremely hard, deploying many resources, some of which are solely dedicated to hiring,” Brière said. “However, we’re unable to fill our vacancies.”

After some time, the business came to the decision to close the factory.

Over the next weeks, the company will move its production and equipment to other factory in Quebec (Saint-Louis de Richelieu), and Ontario (Wallaceburg). However, the company’s headquarters will remain in Quebec, being relocated to the Sainte-Thérèse distribution centre.

The factory has approximately 75 employees. Although the news probably didn’t surprise the majority, Brière specifies that employees were met individually, being offered a transfer to the Saint-Louis de Richelieu factory. He thinks around fifteen of them could accept the transfer.

Brière adds that Whyte’s is sad for its employees.

“We are a family business, and very close to our employees,” he concluded. “Making such decisions, it’s obvious that we find it very sad for them. We’ll wish our employees the best of luck for the future, and will do everything in our power to help them.”

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Whyte’s Closes its Factory in Sainte-Rose

Courrier Laval News — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 16:40:03 +0000

Due to persistent labour shortage problems preventing the achievement of minimum production thresholds, Whyte’s announces the closure of its factory, located in Sainte-Rose, Laval. The closure is scheduled for next December 30.

As for the employees of Sainte-Rose, Whyte’s is looking to relocate as many of them to its other establishments in Quebec.

In its press release, Whyte’s specifies it will continue to serve its North American foodservice customers, as well as Canadian consumers, by producing high-quality pickled products.

translated by Alec Brideau

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Buying Local: A Nightmare

Jimmy Lajoie-Boucher — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 11:58:40 +0000

The month of September promotes buying local. Yet, to buy local, you first must be able to identify the origin of the products, and then, have the means to pay for those products. After looking into the matter, the Courrier Laval News reveals it’s more difficult than it seems.

For the past few months, all politicians and merchants have been telling consumers the importance of buying local. With inflation and labour shortage crises, made worse by the pandemic, every country is promoting local consumption.

However, it can be very hard to properly identify, especially in grocery stores, the origin of food. Sometimes, even misleading information is displayed.

Between Deception and Marketing

The line may seem thin between a marketing technique and outright deception. However, this line seems to widen when the merchant himself displays two completely different information.

For example, when entering a Maxi, we can read “Quebec apples” on a poster. When taking a closer look at those apples, we can see the brand name, Prima Frutta, followed by the acronym USA (United States) on the label adorning the fruit.

After verifying, Prima Frutta is indeed an American company, based in California, whose main activity is the cultivation of apples and cherries. However, on the label mentioned, it’s clearly written “provenance: Quebec”.

Asked about the reason for such a statement, which is obviously false by looking at what we’ve just learned, the management of the establishment relays the question to his subordinate, in charge of fruits and vegetables. The latter will also relay the question, this time to the manager of the grocery store, who’ll conclude by saying he can’t answer the question because he’s not trained in the matter.

The Courrier Laval News also looked at another category of food Quebec is rich in resources… seafood.

In several food markets, such as Maxi, but also IGA for example, packaging with questionable names emerged. The SeaQuest and President Choice brands are selling Pacific shrimp… from India. Unfortunately, although India is a huge peninsula coming out into an ocean, it turns out to be the Indian Ocean and nowhere on its territory does the country touch the Pacific Ocean.

The Green Choice brand sells “wild Argentinian shrimp” processed in Vietnam, before crossing the world a second time to end up on our shelves. A long journey that misleads the consumer as to the real origin of the product.

The Price

The research carried out has also revealed it’s not given to everyone to buy local. The apple, emblematic fruit of Quebec, is less expensive, if not at the same price as its competitors. Those from the United States, Chile or Fiji are between $2.49 and $2.99 per pound. As for those of Quebec, they’re minimum $2.49 per pound.

To get the fruit, and this, from Quebec, it’s necessary to fall back on the reserves of last year, which are being sold $1.29. Another common fruit that is produced here is the tomato. This one is sold for $2.99 per pound, compared to its Mexican counterpart, which is only $2.49 per pound.

When it comes to seafood, there is sole, a fish that isn’t lacking in Quebec. They’re being sold for $36.35 per kilo, while those from China are $20.92. The trend is similar for other similar products such as the Canadian trout at $33.05 per kilo, against $31.95 for Peruvian trout.

A response from the Office de protection du consommateur is still awaited for this article.

translated by Alec Brideau

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