Home Grow-In, that cool little corner store on Columbia and 18th Ave that Spring Gillard and I podcasted about [...]]]> Marilyn Tower, owner of Abbotsford’s Tower Foods, with some of the products seized from Vancouver’s Home Grow-In Grocer by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency due to alleged inadequate labelling. Credit: Doug Shanks — From the Weekender

Home Grow-In, that cool little corner store on Columbia and 18th Ave that Spring Gillard and I podcasted about (because it sells only local goods and supports organic growers and lets you “buy” stuff with a goodwill promise to pay later) is being hassled by our ever-diligent bureaucrats. Hard to believe, I know, but not entirely surprising, is it?

I’d planned to whip myself up into an appropriate froth for a sardonic response, but Herb Barbolet did it so well already I’m going to quote his post to the BC Food Networks listserve. First a link to the story in the Westender.

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RE: GROCER’S STOCK SEIZED

Had George Orwell read this story he might not have believed it. It is Animal Farm and 1984 rolled into one.

The Canadian government refuses public demand for labelling of genetically modified foods, closes small abattoirs (putting farmers and ranchers out of business), lets Chinese food with melamine into the country and “watches over” Maple Leaf.
But if a small neighbourhood grocery is selling quality local products without proper French on the label… woe to them, the full force of the federal government will set things right.

Hell, “the store wasn’t even the target”. It was the supplier!
Makes sense from a government that shoved HST on to the province.

And the CFIA spokesperson has the gall to say that the rules are applied evenly and “we can’t be everywhere at once”.
Who is pulling the Canadian Food Inspection Agency inspectors’ strings?

Herb Barbolet
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The coolest thing about the new Home Grow-In grocery store in Vancouver (on the corner of 18th and Columbia) should have been its local-only approach. They sell the best of British Columbia’s bounty, including fruit and vegetables and eggs and cheese and jams and more.

Then we heard [...]]]>

Home Grow-in's Colleen Belli gets it in writing

The coolest thing about the new Home Grow-In grocery store in Vancouver (on the corner of 18th and Columbia) should have been its local-only approach. They sell the best of British Columbia’s bounty, including fruit and vegetables and eggs and cheese and jams and more.

Then we heard about its pay policy: they don’t take credit or debit cards. So what if you didn’t bring cash? They give you the stuff anyway and tell you to come back with the money when you want.

I know…we weren’t sure whether to believe it either, but click on the podcast to hear what happened to a guy who’d earlier walked off with $70 worth of plants. Home Grow-in is worth seeing just for the scene, but don’t miss out on the local treats. You may not in this lifetime taste a better spicy dill pickle.