TORONTO — It may have been an innocent slip of the tongue, an off-script over-the-top comment to make a point or maybe a glimpse at what Canada’s largest food retailer really thinks about direct competition from farmers.
When he spoke to a Conference Board of Canada food conference Feb. 7, Loblaw Cos. Ltd. executive chairman Galen Weston made a pitch for a strong food inspection system that applies to the entire system and not just food sold in traditional stores.
“Farmers’ markets are great …. But someday they’re going to kill someone,” he said.
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He quickly added: “I’m just saying that to be dramatic, though.”
Farmers’ market and local food advocates among the hundreds at the conference were neither amused nor taken with Weston’s attempt at drama.
Robert Chorney, executive director of Farmers’ Markets Ontario and head of the Canadian farmers’ markets organization did not get a chance to question Weston directly about the remark but later told the conference he was dismayed by the comment.
“We strenuously object,” he said. “That was awful.”
A later statement from Loblaw, a Canadian food retail behemoth with more than 1,000 stores and its own President’s Choice brand, said the chairman was making a point about the need for inspection throughout the system and not about the safety of farmers’ market produce.
It didn’t come across that way and it was a clear illustration of the dangers of going off-message, even for a moment.
Perhaps executives from the food store chain could contract for some “stay on the message” training from the folks in Ottawa responsible for keeping federal Conservative cabinet ministers focused on the one or two messages the government wants to convey that day.
Freelancing is not discouraged. It is not allowed.
If Weston’s remark was made to make a point rather than to state a truth, it clearly muddled his overall message about the strength of the Canadian food system.
