"I have to eat": Canadians struggling with affordability unable to join Loblaw boycott
Frustrated Canadians are gathering across the country to boycott Loblaw-owned stores for the month of May to protest soaring food prices. However, for some people, this isn’t an option.
The Reddit community “Loblaws Is Out of Control” initiated the Loblaw boycott at the beginning of May to protest the outrageous costs of groceries seen in its stores. Within the page, thousands of people across the country have expressed their anger at the company for its questionable discounts, use of shrinkflation, and more.
More recently, a thread on Reddit asking if anyone is participating in the boycott has seen Canadians despair over what to do with the Loblaw boycott when groceries are expensive across multiple stores.
“The other grocers in town are even more expensive. No chance,” one user wrote.
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Many users in the thread express their understanding of the boycott but share that they cannot join in as they “have to eat.”
As one Redditor put it, “There’s no viable alternative here, and food isn’t exactly optional.”
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The boycott organizers recognized that not everyone who wanted to participate would be able to, so they provided an alternative way of showing support.
The group has provided several templates for Canadians to express their outrage with prices by emailing Loblaw customer support or writing to their member of Parliament.
Additionally, the group is encouraging people to participate in “Local Grocer Day!” on May 12, which will recognize the small businesses in the community. There is even a website showcasing the local grocery stores nationwide for those who want to join the boycott but do not know where to shop.
The boycott is asking Loblaw to consider reducing its prices by 15% and removing its “member-only pricing.” However, the main goal is to raise awareness of the affordability struggles many Canadians face, according to the creator of the “Loblaws Is Out of Control subreddit” Emily Johnson.
“The biggest goal outside of ‘hey, don’t charge us exorbitant prices’ is that the consumers really do have the power, we do want to be taken seriously… we don’t want to tolerate monopolies in Canada anymore,” Johnson told Daily Hive in March.
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