BC should should compete with the other grocery chains to lower their prices. The first stores should be set up in First Nations communities as they often have the most expensive food.
Its tough out here on Vancouver Island seeing those high totals.
- Omega_Haxors ( @Omega_Haxors@lemmy.ml ) 10•8 months ago
Access to food is a human right. The fact we have to rely on private corporations does not bode well for maintaining that right.
… and their solution to the housing crisis is to build more rental properties, so take an educated guess whose side they’re ultimately on.
Absolutely. Access to food can be thought of as a utility just as necessary as power, heating, healthcare, etc. And just like those industries, a public option or preferably full nationalization will deliver better results than private interests.
Im not sure a crown corporation would be the most efficient. Not sure how to control for it though.price controls tied to wages perhaps?
Such as groceries can’t increase more than the amount that average wages increase?
No, it should happen at the national level for buying power. It should include the full supply chain as exploited by current national and multinational grocers.
So I guess what I’m saying, is pick one and nationalize the whole damn thing. Weston/Loblaws would be my pick.
Everyone in a position to complain about loss of wealth or income as a result of nationalization has enough of either or both to just ignore.
I feel like setting up a petition and contacting the ndp and the greens about this. It could serve only vegan products to reduce the environment impacts and the intial cost.
It could serve only vegan products
Say bye-bye to your market share.
And network provider. And many other things.
Everything essential should not be in private hands. Food, water, shelter, transportation, education, and healthcare should all be provided at the lowest possible cost to the taxpayers by the government.
It’s not really the grocery stores causing the problems. Every step in the food chain is experiencing increased costs.
Controlling everything is not the right answer either. Especially when food is a global commodity.
No matter how much the government tried they simply can’t control the price of bananas or rice, we don’t produce enough for domestic consumption.
But when every step thinks they can use inflation as an excuse to add an extra bit of profit it adds up by the time it gets to you or me. And the big grocery stores often own several of the steps on their own.
So break the monopolies up and make them compete, that’s how capitalism is supposed to work.
Government should definitely be operating in some business areas, food isn’t one of them. They should regulate it, but it’s a relatively fluid market that allows people to shift easily between providers by simply looking up prices before shopping.
That’s a great idea and I’d agree that it’s a better and realistic option compared to a government run store.
You mean like the roaring success that is BCFerries?
The issue with BC Ferries is that it’s run as a private company despite its only owner being the government. Worst of both worlds. They need to be under the Ministry of Transportation like the inland ferries.
The most obvious comparison would be BC Liquor Stores, which is doing pretty good in fact. But we’ll see how they’ll fare once we get alcohol selling on supermarkets… by the end of this century perhaps
Or perhaps like the envy-inducing low cost and high standards of service of ICBC.
Should? I don’t think so. Could? Certainly, I don’t see why not.
No this is one area that the private sector can do. But: COMPETITION. We need competition in stores and middlemen like meat processors.
Gee, it’s almost like it was a bad idea to let Loblaws buy out most of the competition, have Walmart undercut them at razor or losing margins until they left, and then be stuck with few choices and even less good ones…