A few days before Christmas, the kids & I popped into our local organic grocery store, the Clean Food Connection, to pick up our weekly order of milk and bread. I was getting ready to check out and I noticed a letter on the counter. That letter was letting me know that "my" grocery store would be closing, as of 4pm on Christmas Eve.
The news hit me hard. I didn't start crying until I got out to the car, then through my tears, I tried to explain to the kids why I was upset. We had the luxury of a small grocery store that carried a good selection of organic fruits & veggies, milk, meats, fish... you name it, it was probably there. Every week, we ordered Harmony 1% organic milk and a loaf of bread from the organic bakery in Aurora, usually a loaf of yellow-coloured challah. Once we were in the store, I would stock up on goat's milk yogurt (individual containers with fruit), chicken (local farm-fresh were The Best Ever), beef (from the owner's own pasture-fed cows, who I might add, also get to eat any old fruits & veggies that can't be sold), wild sockeye salmon, fresh herbs, and local produce in season.
The Clean Food Connection was in Mount Albert for seven years apparently. Having only moved here in April, I had a relatively short relationship with the store. From the first day I went into the store though, I knew that it was a special place, and I better "use it, or lose it". Unfortunately, I have met more than a few people who live here but have never even gone into the store to see what it was all about. That is probably why it no longer made sense for Bob, the owner, to continue to try to make a go here.
So, this was a sad day. Not only for my family, but for this community as well. There are now more empty store fronts along our main street than there are working businesses. Since April, a flower shop has picked up and moved to another town and a pet shop (owned by my neighbour) has closed its doors. I find it funny that a town that is growing (more new development happening all the time) isn't able to support local businesses, beyond the most basic. Katie, one of the women at the Clean Food Connection summed it up well. A woman went into the store to buy some rice chips. The bag cost her $4.29. She then proceeded to complain that Walmart sells the same chips for only $3.99. Isn't the convenience of having a store in your own community worth that extra thirty cents? Wouldn't it cost her more (and all of us in the long run) to hop in her car and drive the 20 or so minutes to the closest Walmart?
On the bright side of things, since opening the Clean Food Connection seven years ago, Bob (who is a retired teacher) has opened two other locations, in Newmarket and Uxbridge. He also does a brisk online business and that may be the route that we take from now on . Bob will deliver your groceries right to your door. I am glad to know that I can still buy his beef (it tastes the way I think beef tasted when I was a kid) and all of the other special food that he sells. To check out the website, go to www.cleanfoodconnection.com
When I went into the Clean Food Connection on Christmas Eve to pick up my turkey, the women asked if I was doing OK. I told them that the news had really upset me. They could tell. We were able to laugh about it. Maybe my sadness was made worse by a case of "Christmas hormones"? Perhaps, but I am still sad.
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