Quitting the Eat Local Challenge While I’m Behind

Terrible timing, or terrible idea?

Kaitlyn Varin
4 min readAug 3, 2024
Photo by Author

If you’re not Canadian you likely have no idea who Galen Weston Jr. is, and if you are Canadian, you probably have opinions. Weston Jr. owns the largest food retailer in Canada, Loblaw Companies Limited. There was a boycott. People are neutral or anti-Weston Jr. and Loblaw. The point is that the picture I’m sharing for the July Eat Local check-in is full of President’s Choice products, which is a store brand of Loblaw Companies Limited.

I’ve given up. I quit.

In June I spent a whopping $870 on food, including groceries, alcohol, coffee, and takeout.

In July, though I swore I’d eat out less, I spent $958. I didn’t spend less on takeout, but I spent way more on groceries.

Prior to the challenge, I spent between $300–400 on groceries and between $200–250 on eating out. I was shocked when I spent $550 on groceries in July, and the haul you see above was only $76.

What racked up the bill? I started running out of essentials, like olive oil. And local stores, though I love them and would never expect big sales, never have sales. I bought Canadian – assuming it’s made from domestic and imported ingredients olive oil for $23 for 500 ml. Farm fresh eggs are over $10 for a dozen. Yogurt…

--

--

Kaitlyn Varin

Kaitlyn is a yogi, yoga teacher, runner, writer, and book worm. She writes about health and wellness, self-improvement, food, books, and life.