At what cost, the price of chicken?

and a recipe for Sichuan-inspired Chinese aubergine (eggplant) with minced pork

A big thank you to those who read my first article and to those who subscribed and shared – your support is heartwarming. Today’s dispatch is about the loss of beat (or specialist) journalism in regional media. I include a quotation that includes what some may feel is a naughty word, I’m not apologising for its use but if you’d rather not deal with any of that, I’ve offered a favourite recipe for a wok-fried Sichuan-inspired Chinese aubergine (eggplant) with minced pork. Just in time for the Lunar New Year.

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At what cost, the price of chicken?

The aftermath of the $37 five-pack of premium boneless, skinless chicken breasts has been a bit of a spectator sport these weeks. Canadians have long-brewing anger towards the big grocery chains and Galen Weston Jr. (Loblaw Companies Limited’s chairman and president) – selected links below.

It didn’t take long for this academic’s response to appear in Canada’s national newspaper (it’s since appeared in Sun and Metroland papers). It seems to have prompted an independent journalist to write this, which touches on a potential conflict of interest via a Weston Family Foundation grant; lawyers might have been called in (As an fyi: conflicts of interest threaten academic freedom and journalistic integrity of both the writer/reporter and media outlet).

The Westons are Canada’s third wealthiest family and the majority shareholder of George Weston Limited. George Weston has two operating segments: Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (one of Canada’s largest REITs), and Loblaw Companies, which includes Canada’s largest food and drug retailer. In 2020, Loblaw companies held a 27% market share of the Canadian food retail segment.

What’s interesting (to me, anyway) is who gets blamed for the public’s uproar. The academic points his finger at Canadian consumers being irrational and unable to connect the complex systems that govern how individual grocers price chicken. The journalist takes issue with Canadian media.

To me, they’re related.

Chickens and eggs

Not that long ago, beat reporters were common in regional media. These journalists often cover general news while specialising in highly complex industries or issues such as business, climate change, health, labour. It takes years to develop their knowledge and cultivate their contacts, so they can translate industry jargon and cut through marketer spin to create clear, factual, and objective content.

Today, because many local newsrooms are cut to the bone, beat reporting can be rare. Reporters jump into any topic (potholes, education, business, culture), sometimes with a cursory understanding of the issue or field. For readers accustomed to specialist reporter narratives, this change covering complex topics sometimes leads to accusations of stenography.

“People will eat horseshit if there's enough icing on it.” ~ George Weston

PRs and marketers are more than happy to make up the difference. I am not a journalist, but their pitches regularly fill my inbox. They offer to help me identify “solutions” to “common problems,” “innovative” products, or to let me know I can interview a (self-declared) expert. They’re the pitches that knowledgeable editors, reporters, and freelancers reject. Others sometimes run with them. Sometimes it works out. Sometimes it doesn’t.

I imagine these pitches and planted stories are similar to what former WWI propagandists deluged the public and journalists with, as they refocused their skills to boost the corporate world. Journalists realised they had to separate fact from fiction and be critical of their sources so the public could get reliable news. Plus ça change, je suppose.

Cuckoos in the coop

Food touches everyone. It also connects to business, economics, climate, health, labour, politics, social issues, culture, and agriculture (and other areas). Newswires (like the Canadian Press and Reuters) still cover those stories. But dedicated local food journalism easily falls to newsroom cuts, replaced by generalists and syndicated content. Along the way, as Corey Mintz points out in The Next Supper, food coverage huddled under entertainment’s umbrella.

Traditional media’s objective, specialist journalists, frustrates marketers. Those reporters are less likely to parrot marketing spin or branding statements. That also frustrates a certain type of PR (not me, though. I like working with beat reporters). But the online world lets marketers bypass mainstream media. They can post exactly how they want to present product/service, either on social media or by paying “online influencers” to create posts that sometimes appear like genuine commentary. Fluffy listicles, trends, and fads are pushed as stories, complete with glossy images. When a real food news story breaks, they’ve got lobbyists (and others) available for interviews to frame the story “correctly.”

Of course, there’s a much of a muchness within the few who can afford such campaigns. They’re hardly representative of the breadth and depth of the industries, peoples, and cuisines that fall within food. But that’s another dispatch.

I’m not an apologist for the grocery industry. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Galen Weston Jr. and/or Loblaw(s) are cast as public enemy number one. The processes and costs associated with how it gets to our shopping trolleys (apart from the current $2.12/kg live weight payment farmers receive for non-organic chicken or chicken raised without antibiotics) are as opaque as the absorbent meat pad at the bottom of a butcher’s tray. How chicken is priced at the retail level is a mystery to many of us. I’d rather that explanation not be iced by marketers, lobbyists, or influencers.

Selected links:

(Paywalled articles may be read via PressReader (often accessed for free through your public library))

• 19 December 2017: Globe and Mail: Loblaw admits to bread price-fixing scheme spanning more than 14 years

• 11 June 2020: CTV News: Loblaw ending $2 per hour pandemic pay for workers despite soaring profits

• 17 October 2022: BlogTO: Galen Weston Jr. blasted for tone-deaf email about No Name price freeze at Loblaws

• 22 November 2022: CBC: Loblaw contract dispute sees more than 500 employees laid off in Calgary, union says

• 05 December 2022: Globe and Mail: MPs call for grocery CEOs to face questioning over rising food prices

• 23 December 2022: Toronto Star: Supermarkets continue to increase profits on back of inflation, data shows

• 10 January 2023: @loblawson Instagram: “So many chickens and no #fowlplay” (video)

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New from me:

• Nothing!

What I’m reading:

• Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson

Foodish things I’m doing:

• Tomorrow night I’m moderating a panel discussion for hospitality professionals in Kitchener. It’s organised by the wonderful folks at Rest For Restaurants, hosted by Top Toques Culinary Institute of Excellence, and sponsored by Counterpoint Brewing.

• Working on my next restaurant review and am interviewing my next person for an upcoming Grand Magazine column.

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Sichuan-Inspired Chinese Aubergine (Eggplant) with Minced Pork

As with many wok dishes, prepare all the ingredients before you turn on your pan. If your wok (or pan) isn’t large enough, the aubergine can be cooked in batches. If you do this, then don’t add all the oil at the start. Divide it up by the number of batches and add the appropriate amount of oil each time. If you’d like a slight crisp to the aubergine, toss the cubes in cornflour/corn starch just before frying.

Preparation time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 20 minutes Yield: 4 servings

100 g ground pork

25 g grated ginger (about a 5 cm piece)

1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine

Pinch of salt

3-4 tablespoons peanut oil, as needed

750 g Chinese aubergines/eggplants, diced into 2 cm cubes (3-4)

4 green onions, white parts only, cut into 5 cm lengths

3 garlic cloves, sliced

3 tablespoons light soy sauce

½ tablespoon black bean and garlic sauce

½ tablespoon chilli sauce

½ teaspoon sugar

Garnish: 4 green onions, green parts only, finely sliced

Mix pork, ginger, Chinese cooking wine, and salt. Set aside.

Heat wok or pan on high until light wisps of smoke rise. Add 3 tablespoons of oil and swirl before adding cubed aubergines. Lower heat to medium-high and stir frequently until the flesh is tender and the skins have turned a chocolate brown—about 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the cooked veg into a bowl, leaving whatever oil the veg hasn’t absorbed in the wok.

Add marinated minced pork to the wok. Stir frequently until cooked. Remove to a bowl.

If needed, add the last tablespoon of oil to the wok. Quickly stir in onion whites and sliced garlic. When aromatic, quickly stir in light soy sauce, black bean and garlic sauce, chilli sauce, and sugar. Add cooked veg and coat well before adding cooked pork. Mix well and decant into a serving bowl.

Garnish with sliced green onions and serve with steamed white rice.