The ‘classic North American breakfast’ – eggs, bacon, toast, maybe a bit of fruit – isn’t quite as ‘classic’ as you might think. In an age of globalization, the things we eat can either come from across the world or just next door. Even produce that is labelled as “from Canada” might only be assembled here, rather than actually grown – or some of it might be grown here, but is overshadowed by the quantity of imports. Take a gander at what you eat in the morning, and how ‘classically’ Canadian you actually think it is.
Click each food item to explore what's in your breakfast:
Eggs
Every year, around 200,000 eggs are produced in Quebec. It’s been estimated that 97 per cent of Canadian eggs come from factory-farm-like conditions, with hens spending their entire lives in tiny cages. It’s relatively rare that Canada imports eggs, but when it does – usually during peak egg times, such as Easter – they come from the U.S.
Bacon
Canada is the world’s third-largest pork exporter, producing 1.15 billion kilos per year – enough, according to the Globe and Mail, to give every human being on the planet five slices of bacon to munch on. Pork exports are worth approximately $2 billion. Domestic consumption, though, has generally been going down. Manitoba leads other provinces in production with eight million pigs a year, while Quebec uses 7.5 million, and Ontario in third place with six million. Big-time pig production doesn’t just mean abusive factory farm environments, it also causes major waste – CBC reported that in 1993, the pig industry produced enough waste (read: manure) to fill Toronto's Rogers Centre every three weeks.
Bananas
Bananas… what’s not to love? Potassium-rich, cheap, and so ubiquitous that they’re pretty much the only fruit you can find at the corner store, bananas are ingrained as a staple. Canadians eat around seven kilos of bananas a year, and considering that a kilo numbers around twelve bananas, that’s a lot of banana. But bananas are typically grown in destructive ways, using a monoculture system that destroys surrounding ecosystems, generally located in Latin America and increasingly in Africa. 75 per cent of the global banana trade is dominated by a few gigantesque companies that have been exposed for tax evasion and abusive labour practices.
Toast with butter
Canada’s baking industry is worth around $5 billion, but its wheat industry is mammoth. Canadian wheat, produced largely in Western Canada, comes out to about 27 million tonnes per year. Its top importers make for an eccentric group – Mexico, Japan, Iraq, the U.S., and Colombia. And don’t forget about that butter: in 2013, Canada imported over 6 million kilograms of butter, exporting over 3 million kilograms.