Illustration by Kat Frick Miller
Welcome to The Globe’s series What’s In My Cart?, where we ask Canadians how they stock their kitchens.
Like many Canadian snowbirds, Rita Ward and her partner usually seek solace from cold winters and head south to enjoy the warm weather. Since Ward’s retirement in 2016, they usually make their annual pilgrimage to Sun Lakes, Ariz., a retirement community just south of Phoenix that offers its residents and many seasonal visitors a resort vacation lifestyle.
It’s also where Ward can play pickleball with the friends she’s made there. But this year, she’s passed up on returning to Arizona because of U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to impose punishing tariffs on Canadian goods and to annex Canada.
Instead, the 70-year-old has chosen to stay at home. Her penchant for supporting Canada has translated to buying more Canadian goods. But on a mostly fixed income, the prices of groceries have made her shy away from certain things.
Prior to retiring from her career as an accountant, Ward says her grocery shopping typically took place at one store. Since then, she’s added Save-On-Foods and Thrifty Foods, two Western Canadian grocery-store chains near her home in North Vancouver, to her roster.
“I watch the sales at all of the stores and buy house brands now,” says Ward, who says that her annual income has dropped by about $50,000 – or 40 per cent – since she retired.
Ward says she spends about $3,750 on groceries and alcohol a year, something she’s been able to do by eating less meat and opting for frozen fruit instead of fresh.
Since her retirement eight years ago, the process of grocery shopping has become easier for Ward: “I have a lot more time to go through the grocery stores. I have a list and I’m a lot more measured now. I take more time grocery shopping, which gives me the freedom to go to more than one grocery store, take longer and compare prices,” she says.
It’s also made her efforts to buy Canadian goods easier, since she has time to read labels and identify Canadian-made products.
“It helps that the grocery chains are all making a bigger effort to identify what’s made in Canada with good signage,” she says.
How I save money on groceries: The grocery stores that I shop at typically start their sales on Thursdays, but advertise them starting on Wednesday. Every Wednesday, I take some time to check their websites and look at the flyers for what will be on sale.
How I splurge on groceries: I don’t deny myself anything. I enjoy rib eye, for example, so I’ll buy it when the store is having a two-for-one sale. I buy wine at Save-On, which only stocks wine produced in B.C. I really enjoy the pinot gris wine from See Ya Later Ranch.
The hardest shopping habit to keep up: Buying only healthy food can be challenging, since I love sugar. I enjoy my desserts, including ice cream and chocolates. My doctor has told me to watch my sugar and cholesterol levels, so eating healthy and avoiding too much sugar is something I need to do.
How I’ve changed my eating habits recently: I eat oatmeal about three times a week, which I find has helped lower my LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol. I try to limit snacking at night, which is the time when I usually eat the most unhealthy foods.
Five items always in my cart:
- Hummus – Fontaine Santé – $9.99: I really enjoy this hummus. I typically freeze it, which makes a difference and allows me to buy it in bulk.
- Maple syrup – Western Family – $15: I make a nice French toast as an occasional treat, which I like to have my maple syrup with. I usually have it a couple of times a month as a treat for breakfast when I want to switch up my oatmeal.
- Frozen berries – Western Family – $10 per 1.5 kg: I make a compote in the winter using these berries, which I eat with my oatmeal.
- Sliced Kalamata olives – Unico – $4.75: I put these olives in a Greek salad, or use them as an add-in for a dish I make called Chicken Marbella. It’s a Spanish dish of chicken legs baked with prunes, capers, brown sugar and Kalamata olives.
- Asparagus – Seven Seas – $3.49: I prepare my asparagus in the air fryer with some salt and oil, and enjoy it on the side of a protein like fish or chicken, or eat it with pasta.