The Great Ontario Garlic Conundrum

Ontario Garlic | Photo: Kelly Hunt If you are like me, you probably reach in the pantry or into the kitchen cupboard for a fresh clove of garlic almost every day. Garlic is one of those culinary items that is well, indispensable. Almost every recipe calls for garlic, whether it be soups, spreads or chicken dishes, whatever you are cooking up in your kitchen, chances are that a clove or two of garlic can boost the flavour notch up on your dish a few delicious decibels. So, we have established that garlic is a popular item – a culinary staple really. Popular items should be easy to find at every grocery store, correct? Well, yes and no. The truth is that you can find garlic everywhere, in abundance at every store – but if it is Ontario garlic that you are after (and I know you are – because why else are you on this blog?), well it”s just not that easy to find. I have been aware of this problem for about two years,but never fully understood it. I was aware that every piece of garlic that I picked up in Loblaws,Sobeys, No Frills – everywhere, well it all came from China. Why, why, why? It turns out that this problem started back in 1996. I was on the Canada Border Services Agency website and it states that in November 1996 there was a complaint launched by the Garlic Growers Association of Ontario out of Stratford. Back in 1996, the Ontario growers filed a complaint that China had illegally dumped garlic into the Canadian market at a lower price then was accepted at the time, in the process the Ontario growers claimed that this saturation of the garlic market resulted in injury to the existing Canadian garlic industry. Turns out the Canadian International Trade Tribunal agreed that it did in fact cause injury to the market and in 1997 they placed a tariff on Chinese garlic from July to December (when fresh Ontario garlic is available). Three years later in 2000, Canadian garlic growers asked for a review of the time period tariff as this was also the year that China exported more garlic to Canada than in any previous years. The Canadian International Trade Tribunal examines the time period and agrees to expand it to a full year. At this time, they expand the tariff to include garlic from Vietnam. In 2002, China”s imports of garlic to Canada register at $200,000, this amount is way down from the $2 million the year before. Meanwhile, the Philippines imports of garlic to Canada goes way up – from $2 million to $6 million. The garlic growers of Ontario now believe that China is illegally shipping garlic through the Philippines to avoid the tariff. In 2007 the tariff expired and most of the Ontario Garlic growers have already given up and switched out their crops to other more profitable crops. No one fights the lack of tariff – and I am sure China is happy. What can we do about it? Well , we are the only ones that can do anything about it. I have said before – we have the power, we vote with our food dollars. When you go to the supermarket leave a note for the manager, asking for Ontario garlic to be stocked. Or better yet, speak to the manager, because if enough people ask for it, we will get it. In the mean time, I am a bit of a local food nerd and I cannot bring myself to buy the China variety. I pick up tons of garlic right now (the fall) at the Farmer”s Markets as it will keep in a dark, cool place all winter long until it starts appearing again next summer. All of this political nonsense fails to point out the obvious – Ontario garlic is superior in taste. Ontario garlic is available in over 100 varieties. There are many shapes and flavours to choose from and seed diversity is yet another reason to purvey the market for locally grown varieties. You see, garlic does not grow from seed, so it is important for growers to grow it year after year to keep it alive so to speak. If you are interested in growing some garlic and helping keep the garlic growing you can contact Seeds of Diversity at http://www.seeds.ca/proj/gcgc/ Did I mention that garlic keeps the vampires away?  Read More