On Thursday I wrote about why grocery chains are quietly removing Canadian product identifiers from their shelves, and promised the background story would follow.

It’s live today.

Canada is the world’s fifth largest food exporter and sixth largest food importer. We grow world-class wheat and buy back pasta. We raise cattle and sometimes purchase the processed beef from across the border. Thirty years after NAFTA, we are still shipping raw ingredients out and buying finished goods back at a premium. The shelf tags coming down this spring are a symptom. This piece is the diagnosis.

🍁 Canada Exports Raw Food and Imports It Back as Groceries