My holiday wish list for Santa

Lindy Mechefske
Dec 13, 2019  •  November 27, 2020  •  4 minute read

Dear Santa,

It’s been a very long time since I sent you a wish list. And so I don’t waste your time with a big preamble, I’ll do this properly, in list format.

1. I’m hoping you might be able to bring the ALDI Food Market chain to Canada.

Please, Santa. We need ALDI. Because we need this competition in our marketplace. We need Canadian supermarkets to lift their game.

German-based ALDI is a family-owned discount supermarket chain with more than 10,000 stores in 20 countries. Canada is not one of those countries. At least, not yet, Santa.

ALDI has recently implemented a new plastic-free packaging policy and has vowed to reduce all other types of packaging by at least 15 per cent and to use 100 per cent recyclable or compostable packaging by 2025 or sooner. And ALDI has also just committed to going fully organic and pesticide-free. We need this! The bees need this! The world needs this!

But wait, there’s more! ALDI pays its workers fair wages. It teams with local growers to bring in local eggs, milk and produce. It is committed to minimal advertising to keep its costs low and is, therefore, able to offer the most competitive pricing on its products. ALDI consistently ranks amongst the least expensive supermarket chains on the planet while still offering high-quality groceries. To accomplish all this, ALDI stores are smaller and offer fewer choices of the same item (for example, fewer toilet paper selections). The unexpected bonus is that shopping will take you about half as long. Think of the time you’ll save, Santa! Just don’t expect to find name brand items — instead watch for its own store brands. And if you’re not happy with it after opening, ALDI will give you a full refund PLUS it will replace the item with something else.

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Bringing ALDI to Canada would help diversify our food supply system and introduce new standards, add some much-needed competition, and in the longer term would improve our national food security. Please, Santa, please bring us ALDI!

2. Please, Santa, no more single-use plastics on food and household products!

I know a partial ban is coming, but why must we wait? I just bought a bag of organic oatmeal and only when I finished it did I realize that the plastic bag it came in was not recyclable. And that’s just one item, Santa. Our supermarkets are full of non-recyclable packaging. Take a trip up the cosmetics, shampoo and conditioner, and cleaning products aisles in almost any Canadian supermarket and you could fill an entire shopping cart with things in non-recyclable plastic pollution that are just going to add to the global plastic pollution crisis. I won’t even start on bottled water, Santa. Just please help us make it stop, Santa.

3. No more crazy kitchen gadgets.

First it was rice cookers; then popcorn machines; those nasty, non-recyclable pod-using coffee machines; various “instant” type cooking pots; electric can openers (how many cans are you really going to open?); egg cookers; hot-air fryers; and tear-free onion goggles; juicers; ricers; bread-making machines. And how could we forget all those plastic salad spinners? And now there are sous-vide tools — for all the many times you need to sous-vide something in your own kitchen?! Before getting one of these, please ask yourself: Do you really want to eat food cooked in a plastic bag? Please, Santa,pleasedon’t bring me a sous-vide tool.

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In fact, please don’t bring me anything made of or encased in plastic. And no silicone, either. Did you know that silicone is just a fancy plastic made from synthetic rubber and synthetic plastic polymer? It also has a very low recyclability rate. But honestly, how could anyone possibly imagine that cooking in the oven with or on plastic (a.k.a. silicone) would be a good idea?

4. These are a few of my favourite things!

Dear Santa, I really don’t need a thing! But if you’re trying to think of non-plastic, environmentally friendly gifts for all the foodies on your very long list, I have a few ideas of my own for you.

  • Vintage kitchen tools, such as wooden rolling pins or wooden-handled vegetable mashers. Find them in second-hand stores or Lee Valley.

  • Vintage Pyrex or similar glassware. Every kitchen needs a few of these, preferably ones with lids.

  • Vintage baking trays. Some of these have been around for decades and are still going strong. Give them a good scrub and enjoy the patina and the unknown history.

  • Beautiful pottery bowls of all sizes for serving.

  • A cookbook or two. New or old. I love my Canadian cookbook collection!

  • Really high-quality extra virgin olive oil. Recent research shows that extra virgin olive oil may help guard against dementia and that it has many neuroprotective and cognitive benefits.

  • Some very good tea. My favourite is Yorkshire Gold.

  • Fancy chopsticks.

  • Tins of home baking and things in glass bottles tied up with ribbon: wine, liqueurs, jam, chutney, etc.

  • And, last but not least, donations to local food banks.

That’s all from me, Santa.

Whatever you are celebrating this season, may your holiday be filled with warmth, happiness, companionship, good health and good food. And all the very, very best for the new year.

Sincerely,

Lindy

Lindy Mechefske is the award-winning author of Out of Old Ontario Kitchens and Sir John’s Table. Contact her at lindymechefske.com.