Why would anyone import pie?

It used to be that we could get some locally grown or packaged food at Capers Community Market in Vancouver. Now that it has been taken over by Whole Foods, an American chain store, it has mostly American, Chinese or Argentinian food. So much for the local food movement.

But they have gone too far now. Last weekend we were looking around their baked goods area, and we were dumbstruck. Apple Pie IMPORTED from the US. We swung around slightly to view the kitchen in Capers on Robson. On a second floor in the Northwest corner they have a full industrial kitchen. Steps away. So close you could spit on it, and we almost felt like it.

Oranges and lemons don't grow in B.C., so they need to be imported. Vanilla and coffee don't grow in B.C., so they need to be imported. Apples DO grow in B.C. so you can get them locally. Pies DO taste better when baked fresh, not when they've been baked, packaged in non-biodegradable plastic, shipped across the border using way too much fuel, and sitting on a shelf waiting for some sap to buy it.

There is no way a pie crust will get better with age and shipping. Even if the apples were superior to the local ones – which they are not – why would anyone buy, and why are these idiots trying to sell, imported pies?

We have greatly reduced the amount of food we buy at Capers now, and are seriously considering giving it a pass altogether. It doesn't make sense anymore. They are mentioned in the book The 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating but the food they stock now has nothing to do with eating locally. They are going out of their way to import food with no good reason.