So, it happened. I was called a food terrorist. I was rather amused by it as I was chastising a friend for being part of the problem with the Canadian food chain as I noticed that the inside of her fridge made her look like a poster child for instantaneous planetary destruction! Nevermind the destruction of her intestines. Okay, she was joking, I wasn't, not really.
For real, though. Calling me a food terrorist is kinda legit if you think about it, I mean Greg and I were all about real local food and the sustainability of our food supply since before it was even really a thing. We aren't afraid to point out the inequity in the food chain. I have called out Galen G. Weston regularly and will until he changes the behaviours of his companies. We have seen at close hand the desperation that people in the poorest nations live with on a daily basis. We have also seen how fair and free trade with such places improves the lives and situations of the folks who live there. So, there is no doubt in our minds that standing up and fighting for fairly traded and local food protections need to be established everywhere, because, to date, the largest conventional food suppliers are not helping do any of these things, to my eye. They hold the reins to the quickest solution to the largest portion of solutions to the problems that currently plague the food chain.
Click here if you missed that blog: Food Fraud, Record Profits, and Bread Scandals Abound.
When we launched our company, we were in the unfortunate position of having to import 100% of our primary materials; citrus fruit, primarily limes, and chilli peppers. At the time, we were actively looking to supply our ingredient requirements as locally as possible because Greg, as a brilliant chef, knows that the closer to the plant the food is processed the riper, fresher, and, by far, better tasting, the finished dish will be. His experience operating an International cuisine restaurant in the middle of nowhere all those decades ago has paid off for us. Our actions, in spite of not being entirely altruistic, have been about supplying ourselves and our company and paving a situation where we were not reliant on imports or big food to supply our products.
We were given a mandate to create the market for fair trade chilli peppers and successfully managed to see several Canadian companies bring this produce to market. At the time we were importing approximately 1000 pounds of peppers per year.
We currently use approximately 8000-10,000 pounds of varietal chilli peppers per year, all grown locally by either organic dirt farmers or in all-natural greenhouses, and we have maintained our contracts with overseas suppliers to continue to support their progress.
This year we used nearly 20000 pounds of imported citrus fruit. We are anticipating a time in the future when citrus might be grown locally, likely in greenhouse environments sustainably heated. We currently juice our own citrus, grate a large amount of zest and citrus oils for our products, so, we are actively pursuing a processing project that will see us extract the zest and oils from our extra citrus peels into secondary usage as we do for our own products, rather than discard the peels. In a perfect world we would see ourselves extracting the oils, zesting, and juicing the fruit within easy reach of the citrus orchards in which they are grown, creating local opportunities for the citrus suppliers in developing nations.
With the climate crisis (literally) crashing against the shores of my beloved Newfoundland, and Greg's childhood island home of the Bahamas, reminds us how important what we are doing truly is, in spite of sometimes feeling that we are swimming against the tide.
We have been accused of disrupting local economic realities by paying farmers in developing countries, prices equivalent to those being paid to local Canadian farmers. We continue to finance a Haitian pepper farmer in spite of several physical setbacks over the years that cause the poorest dirt farmers in the world, to sell their produce for less than it cost to grow. Working with both Fair Trade and Organic organizations, producers and suppliers gives us an edge over other multi-product producers in that our clients work with us to ensure that the real food ingredients we use to make their products, are clean, local, and sustainable, and they come with the knowledge that we are doing everything we can to help farmers wherever they are succeed in growing and processing sustainably. Click here to read the Media release that was issued in 2007 when we first began importing the goatpeppers.
Local & Organic Fair Trade, Worldwide.
In essence, in our short 20 years in existence we have succeeded in forcing over 20 producers to provide us with over 30,000 lbs per year in produce that is either local or as minimally offensive to the planet as is possible.
Committed to the idea of saving the planet while feeding ourselves the highest quality food that can be grown has created a company that from inception has been committed to the ideas of sustainability. Growing up as we did, we are far too cognizant of what is needed to save the planet. Our goal is to leave as little damage to the planet as we can, while encouraging our clients and providers to convert and indeed, to commit to these same ideas, wherever they are!
After the Haitian Earthquake, we updated our Pepperfire Initiative to include establishing organic farming and food production locally to reestablish solidity and stability to the country. The document was adopted by GRAHN-Monde, a diaspora group committed to rebuilding Haiti. If you are interested, you can click here to download: Read the Pepperfire Initiative. It is our goal to see a food hub established in every geographical location the world over, that will help eliminate food poverty and insecurity the world over. Ideally this white paper is able to be used by any country, with little tweaking, to create a world of sustainable food manufacturing.
We continue expanding our network of farmers and local producers and together have established a local organic farmers cooperative, that supplies us with tomatoes, garlic and onions. And we have worked with a local Multi-service Cooperative, the CooP CSUR, to help establish a local online and bricks and mortar grocery called the Marché Écolocal. It focuses on local and organic products, with the goal of helping establish food security for those seeking an assured access to clean, locally grown and produced groceries. The market services well over 500 families, delivering fresh locally grown and organic groceries, all over the county.
We compost, reduce, reuse, and recycle wherever possible and work with several recouperation groups, most notably Comité 21 Québec, and as a result of these activities have successfully participated in seeing well over 100 Garbage trucksful of trash eliminated from landfill and turned into useful and sustainable projects.
We wrote our own UN Sustainability Goals, when they were released in 2-2015 because we are people committed to the idea of saving the planet. Our goal has always been to feed ourselves with the highest quality food that can be grown and as a result we created our company with those ideals from inception. For us sustainability has always been about doing as little damage to the planet as we can, while encouraging our clients and providers to convert and indeed to commit to these same ideas of working to create the greenest, most equitable planet we can. Gene Roddenberry would be proud.
You can read about the UN SDGs, as well as see our own SDGs by clicking on this graphic:
If you've read this far into the document then you will be aware that we are not the sort to sit idly by when we discover things that need to be fixed in the food chain. Tina has a habit of standing up in the seats of our Government, even, calling out the Municipal Government asking them to commit to the existence of the local farmers market, required for the planned local food hub. Followed more recently by calling out the Federal Government over their continued use of Glyphosates and their surfactants.
We are not sure what Tina is going to do next, but if you are in food manufacturing, then you better watch your labels, because we are coming for you!
Our latest project hasn't even been launched yet, as it is still in Beta testing! Project Cluo, is a smart phone app designed for the food conscious consumer. It allows you to point your smart phone at a food product label and decipher the meaning of the marks on the product’s label. This app threatens to revolutionize how people with dietary restrictions and controls shop. Click here to read more about Project Cluo! Expect a Media release to come out soon! I am so excited to be involved in this project!
We continue to look for new ways to advance the projects that will add to the original Pepperfire Initiative and look forward to expanding them to include local food hubs, everywhere. There is nothing more important in my mind, the world over, especially with the climate crisis as it is, than the journey to create planetary food security. So, like a journey of 1,000 miles that always begins with the first step. We invite you to take a walk with us.
Tina Brooks, Food Terrorist
]]>Back then I often felt the pressure on my clients of the "tail wagging the dog". By that I mean that the financial markets seemed to be swaying clients into doing what the market makers seemed to want them to do in spite of it being the worst thing for them to do with their money. I wasn't very popular amongst my fellow brokers who toed the "sell what needs to be moved" line. You see, I learned how to follow the markets by working in the cash cage, the heartbeat center of a market maker; although a much smaller company when I was with them, they are now known as ScotiaMcleod. And likely if you don't toe the line these days, you don't get the coveted chair as a broker, the line I got was you can't be a broker because you are a woman. That was 1987. I wonder if there are actually any women in the pits, yet, there weren't then, unless they knew someone. But I digress.
My point is that today I watch the grocery store prices seeming to go through the roof and the media and certain politicians are playing the refrain that the Grocery Oligopoly is gouging consumers. The Oligopoly swears that the price increases were necessary to survive the pandemic, yet FREEZES their pricing at the TOP of the pandemic pricing, thereby garnering themselves free national publicity. Gotta love Media Releases. Meanwhile, their largest competitor comes out publicly and defends them, so they get national publicity as well. This is business as usual, they said.
Uh huh, business as usual. Price freezing at the END of the pandemic, as opposed to the beginning. Record profits. Let me say that again; RECORD PROFITS.
So the big question is, are they gouging. Are the market price increases real and or justified?
Well, frankly, it depends on whom you ask. If you ask the people who are BENEFITING from the price increases, they were absolutely necessary and there was no way around them.
For what it is worth when people stopped going to restaurants their grocery bills went up. That is often something that happens during a recession, and why both grocery and restaurants supposedly operate on 3% margins. So, usually during a recession, people tuck in their belts, stop going to restaurants so often and spend more on home cooking. When they feel less constrained, financially, they shop more, they go back to restaurants, more often.
What was different about the pandemic recessionary inflation is that in the first year nearly 100% of the restaurant sales flipped to retail. So increased profits could be realized. Interestingly, though, small retailers did not see the doubling in profits primarily because their work load doubled, their costs increased and their work force shrank, because everyone who was working for less than $2000 take home, a month, took the proffered furlough, if they were eligible.
My husband and I work for dividends, if we can earn them, and so, had we shut down our business we would not have been eligible for any support and all of our employees would have taken a pay cut.
If I start back at the beginning of the pandemic, and I tell you how and where OUR price increases occurred, you'll see that I have a very different opinion about price gouging than our friends at Loblaws and the other grocery chains.
At the beginning of the pandemic when supply chain disruptions interrupted the supply of glass. Our warehouse supplier contacted us and told us that if we were not using a type of jar or bottle already to not bother requesting them, all stock was being held for existing customers until further notice. So we couldn't get containers for new products in spite of a new customer wanting them. We were relegated to only using glass or plastic bottles or jars that we were already using.
Then the price per jar began creeping up.
Then we were notified that a bigger client than we were had reserved all of a certain type of glass and we could no longer have access to it, at all.
Then we were notified that prices were going up, again. That happened four times. For a total of 100% increases on some jars. Most averaged a 20% price increase. Those prices have NOT backed off, and we do not anticipate them backing off, at all, with perhaps an exception of the most outrageously priced ones. And although we watched the price of containers for shipments from China (alone) go from $3000 to $25,000, and the price for them has dropped backed down to a more usual price of $4000, no corresponding price decrease has been passed on to us their clients. So we cannot pass them on ourselves.
Our supply chain ingredients were fun to watch as well.
Prior to the pandemic, were had been unable to purchase tomatoes at wholesale/manufacturer quantity nor pricing since Loblaws' Ketchupgate scandal. Out of the blue one of our local organic tomato suppliers called us and asked if we could use Savoura's organic tomatoes because they had to close their retail sales.
We jumped at the opportunity. I do not believe we will ever have an issue being supplied with locally grown organic tomatoes, anymore, in spite of Savoura raising their prices to us slightly when their retail sales kicked back in last year.
Sugar has been entertaining to watch bounce around. The prices of certain fruits and vegetables remain untouched and others ask prices that make so little sense that you just know they are going to end up in the seconds room, where, deeply discounted, they end up either in sauces or in the compost.
Prior to the pandemic Grocery purchasers were not particularly loosey goosey about paying their suppliers, in fact, if they made an order with you, the amount of money they charged you just to get set up to suit them, cost you all of your profits for a while before you ever covered them. Worse, they pay minimum 120 days, and if your product doesn't sell fast enough, they fine you and make you take it back at a discounted price. If your truck is too early or too late for a delivery appointment, they fine you.
We saw what Big Company pushback looks like when Pepsico decided they weren't going to play Loblaws' game. Did you notice? Pepsico is back on Loblaws shelf, shhhh. Don't tell them I feel played, yet again.
You see, in food manufacturing since 2003, geek, FA that I am, I watch my industry like a hawk. I see what the industry does to people and frankly, if Loblaws is making 11.7% profits, they are sucking it out of the pockets of poor dirt farmers somewhere, IYAM. Farmers who are made to till about a third of their crop because it is imperfect. Then 1/3 of the crop that DOES make it to market is THROWN OUT because it didn't get sold quickly enough. Then we as consumers throw out about a third of the food we purchase because we didn't cook/eat it quickly enough.
At the end of the day. There really isn't anything one can do about the price setting that Loblaws and their cohorts are doing. We the consumer continue to demand exactly what they provide us, with our wallets. In spite of knowing full well how they rip us off. But, that is just capitalism. They're really only taking advantage of what the market will allow. And the market, if you ask me, is oblivious to the true cost of their food, and so cannot and do not pay for it.
Shop better. Your dollars have more power than you know.
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This story shows the importance of heat treating your products to ensure shelflife stability. One of only FOUR key considerations in canning and preserving. PH Testing, accurate heat processing, sterile equipment, and meticulously detailed recordkeeping on your processes and ingredients.
The TL;DR version of this backstory is that our Grandmothers knew how to prevent their beautiful brandied cherries from exploding. What they did not do is write down in detail EXACTLY what went into their jars, and leaving the details in food safety to chance is dangerous, in ways home canning never considers.
There are four key considerations home cooks can employ to safely ensure their home products are safe and will survive the test of time.
PH Testing is number one!
In Greg's story, the sugar was expected to preserve the brandied cherries. What was not expected was the water movement caused by a dangerous PH level that allowed the brandies to ferment in their jars. PH testing would have given the cherries a chance.
Ensuring they were heat treated for a sufficient period of time would have allowed the sugar to stabilize the cherries. This did not occur, allowing the cherries to become Christmas bombs. Error in food preservation number two!
The other two factors seem to Greg to be intuitive, but may never be emphasised well by home cooks. Certainly they aren't on any of the recipe cards I have seen.
Thus, the number three most important step in food safety in home canning, which is really the first step; Ensure your equipment is sterile and free of contaminants.
Number four is to meticulously detail your processes and ingredients. The simple matter of switching out something as simple as the type of cherries or using a different sugar syrup can become the difference between Christmas gifts from heaven and a Brandied Cherry Hellscape.
I hope you put your focus on food safety this harvest and have a very happy canning season!
-- Tina Brooks
For excellent food handling and food safety education contact your local Provincial Food Safety regulator. Our friends at FoodSafety.ca have compiled excellent information for food handling by province: https://www.foodsafety.ca/laws-requirements/by-location
"Peppermaster and Chez Nous Foods' Summer Show Schedule, with dates at Que de Bonne Choses Market, Château-Pierrefonds Market, Salon Plein Art in Quebec City, and Brome Fair. The Rigaud shop is open for samples!"
QUE DE BONNE CHOSES FARMERS' MARKET
Every Thursday 3:00-6:30
484-D Main Rd.
Hudson Quebec
(Weather Permitting)
In-store samples of over 150 unique all natural sauces and rubs are now available. Try before you buy!
Once you taste you will know the true value that only the Peppermaster can create!
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GIVEAWAY ALERT !!
We want to have some fun and spoil you a little while we're at it, so let's play a game! A Peppermaster bingo !
To participate, cross off all the Peppermaster products you'd like to try and share a picture of your card under the post: Chilihead bingo on our 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲!
Facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/PeppermasterShop
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Monteregie Hot Pepper
Owner, Richard Vézina: monteregiehotpepper@gmail.com
Jardins de l'écoumène, certifiés bio par Québec-Vrai
Proprétaires: Guylaine St-Vincent et Jean François Lévêque
Ferme Tournesol: Certifiée bio
Propriétaires: Daniel Brisebois, Emily Board, Frédéric Thériault, Reid Alloway et Renée Primeau
Pepperseedz
Propriétaire: Simon Lanciault
Les Semences du batteux
Propriétaire: Olivier Légaré
Refining Fire Chillies.
Propriétaire, Jim Duffy
Puckerbutt Pepper Company.
Owner, Ed Currie
Semences Solana
Atlantic Pepper Seeds
Updated January 1, 2022
Notre agriculteur haïtien a planté des piments chèvre et des piments oiseau et nous nous sommes engagés à l'aider à les commercialiser. Après tout, personne ne peut faire pousser un piment chèvre ou un piment oiseau qui a le même goût que celui cultivé dans les îles. On croise les doigts pour que ce soit possible en 2022 !
Pendant ce temps, chez nous, nos producteurs de piments locaux ont tous demandé à ce qu'on leur recommande des fournisseurs de semences dignes de confiance. On doit être en janvier !
C'est maintenant que vous devez faire démarrer vos graines, car vous devez les faire démarrer à l'intérieur, afin qu'elles soient bien établies en mai, lorsque vous pourrez éventuellement les mettre en terre.
Voici quelques-uns de nos fournisseurs de semences préférés. : Il s'agit d'un lien permanent sur notre page Web, nous vous invitons donc à l'ajouter à vos favoris. https://peppermaster.com/blogs/producers-spotlight/seed-sellers-vendeurs-de-graines
Si vous avez vos propres favoris, faites-le nous savoir, et nous les ajouterons à la liste !
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This is theirs... | These are ours... |
l est important de pouvoir tracer nos ingrédients jusqu'aux agriculteurs locaux qui partagent les mêmes valeurs en s'engageant à fournir des produits fabriqués avec des aliments de qualité - des
aliments de qualité qui ont une conscience. C'est pourquoi nous achetons toujours en priorité des tomates locales et nous importons des tomates certifiées biologiques
lorsqu'elles ne sont pas de saison. Celles-ci sont actuellement cultivées en Californie.
«Nous achetons toujours des tomates locales en premier lieu et nous importons des tomates certifiées biologiques lorsqu'elles ne sont pas en saison. Elles sont actuellement cultivées en Californie.»
Malheureusement, nos deux ingrédients les plus importants sont les piments et le jus de citron vert qui ne sont pas (encore) indigènes au Canada. Donc, même si l'éco-local faisait partie de notre politique, le terme ne couvrait pas tout.
En 2007, TransFair, aujourd'hui Fairtrade Canada, nous a confié le mandat de créer un marché mondial pour les piments certifiés équitables. Nous avons alors lancé l'initiative Pepperfire et le fait de prêter le nom de "commerce équitable" nous a semblé être une bonne idée, nous avons donc inventé le terme "Slow Fair Trade".
Notre capacité à nous approvisionner en poivrons frais provenant de pays lointains nous oblige à nous assurer que l'exploitation utilise le moins possible de pesticides et d'herbicides, qu'elle n'a pas recours au travail forcé et qu'elle offre un salaire décent à ses employés et à elle-même.
« Protéger l'environnement et soutenir le producteur»
De cette manière, nous fournissons non seulement une meilleure qualité à nos clients, mais nous protégeons également l'environnement et les producteurs.
Des incidents comme celui-ci nous montrent que nos initiatives comptent. Le fait de s'associer à des organisations comme Fairtrade Canada et de participer à des projets comme l'initiative Pepperfire garantit que ce qui se retrouve dans l'assiette de nos consommateurs, de nos amis... de vous, est éthique et moralement responsable. De cette façon, non seulement nous fournissons une meilleure qualité à nos clients, mais nous protégeons également l'environnement et les producteurs.
Nous continuons à travailler dur pour rendre le secteur alimentaire plus responsable et le monde un peu plus juste. Merci de votre confiance et de votre soutien. Comme Tina aime à le dire, nous avons une chaîne alimentaire à sauver.
Bien à vous,
Brooks Pepperfire Foods
If you've read the news this morning, you've probably heard that some of the products sold in grocery stores back home are made with tomatoes from China. Specifically, Xinjian, a territory in China where the Uyghur people have been subjected to mass detentions and torture by the Chinese government, in what many countries have called genocide. Today’s news highlights why knowing your farmer is so important to us. Today’s conversations were sparked by this article about essential child slavery in the tomato industry!
What a horror. This kind of news always hits us hard because it is something we care about. It reminds us that the labelling system in Canada does not allow the consumer to trace the origin of the food on our plates.
Why is that?
Well, the Canadian consumer may never really know the true origins of that tomato product by looking at the label, as regulations do not require a company to disclose the full geographic composition of the raw material, only the country in which it was last processed. It cannot tell us if slaves were used or worse those slaves were children. We are even more appalled to learn that people who have been forced to flee their homelands as a result of war, pestilence, and drought, are enslaved by the very people who are feeding us and claiming to be TOP quality products!
Shocking, right?
We believe it is important to be able to trace our ingredients to local farmers who share the same values by committing to providing products made with quality food -- quality food that has a conscience. That’s why we always buy local tomatoes first and we import Organic Certified tomatoes when out of season. These are currently grown in California.
“We always buy local tomatoes first and we import Organic Certified tomatoes when out of season. These are currently grown in California.’’
Unfortunately, our two most important ingredients are chillies and lime juice which are not (yet) indigenous to Canada. So even though Eco-local was part of our policy, the term didn't cover everything.
In 2007, we were given the mandate by TransFair, now Fairtrade Canada to create a global market for Fair Trade Certified peppers and we launched our Pepperfire Initiative and then lending the name "Fair Trade" seemed like a good idea too, so we coined the term “Slow Fair Trade”
With our ability to source fresh peppers from far away countries comes the responsibility to ensure that the farm uses as little pesticide and herbicide as possible, does not use forced labor, and offers a living wage to its employees and itself.
“Protect the environment and support the producer”
In this way, we not only provide better quality to our customers, but we also protect the environment and the producers.
Incidents like this show us that our initiatives count. That partnering with organizations like Fairtrade Canada and participating in projects like the Pepperfire Initiative ensures that what goes on the plates of our consumers, our friends... you, is ethical and morally responsible. In this way, we not only provide better quality to our customers, but we also protect the environment and the producers.
We continue to work hard to make the food business more responsible and the world a little more fair. Thank you for your trust and support. As Tina likes to say, we have a food chain to save.
Yours,
Brooks Pepperfire Foods
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Nous avons gardé la pierre pendant un certain temps avant de réaliser qu'il y avait peut-être quelque chose sur la page Facebook qui donnerait un indice sur ses origines, et nous avions raison.
Nous avons découvert le groupe Arroche-moi un sourire. Le groupe, qui compte des milliers de membres à travers le Québec, a pour principe de disperser des roches joliment décorées pour que d'autres personnes les découvrent, sourient et qui sait, participent à leur tour. Quelle charmante idée, n'est-ce pas ?
De cette aventure, nous avons été inspirés pour semer un peu de bonheur à notre tour. Quelques idées commencent à germer de notre côté. Allons-nous créer des roches Peppermaster ? Elles pourront peut-être faire partie de nos prochaines campagnes de collecte de fonds ? 🤔
Les idées fusent chez nous et nous sommes impatients de les partager avec vous. Restez à l'écoute pour en savoir plus sur nos prochaines activités !
Quelques mots sur les prochaines campagnes de collecte de fonds :
Pour en savoir plus sur la fondation, vous pouvez cliquer ici.
Vous pouvez en savoir plus sur leur mission en cliquant ici.
Nous sommes toujours à la recherche de bénévoles pour nous aider dans la collecte de fonds. Si vous souhaitez participer, veuillez envoyer un courriel à tina@peppermaster.com.
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Le 30 septembre 2021, marquait la première Journée nationale de vérité et de réconciliation. Une journée créée par le gouvernement fédéral dans l'idée d'honorer la mémoire des enfants disparus et des survivants des pensionnats, de leurs familles et de leurs communautés.
Pour cette journée, je me suis demandée : Que puis-je faire, en tant que personne blanche, en ce jour pour honorer cette journée de vérité et de réconciliation ?
En posant la question publiquement, j'ai reçu de nombreuses idées intéressantes et je partage mes préférées avec vous :
D'abord et avant tout, je crois que la chose la plus importante à faire est de comprendre et de réfléchir. Plus nous en apprenons sur l'histoire des peuples autochtones et sur leurs problèmes, mieux nous sommes équipés en tant qu'alliés. C'est pourquoi Greg et moi avons choisi de lire le Rapport sur la vérité et la réconciliation.
Auteurs, artisans, entrepreneurs. Le choix est là pour soutenir la communauté autochtone. Une amies a répondu que sa solution serait d'acheter tous ses cadeaux de Noël dans des entreprises autochtones. C'est le genre de geste concret duquel s'inspirer et qui, petit à petit, transforme nos habitudes et imprègne nos mentalités
Un chandail orange est un chandail orange. Cela ne va pas révolutionner les mentalités par magie. Mais il créera de la visibilité. Attirer l'attention sur le problème, susciter des conversations, est essentiel pour faire évoluer les mentalités.
La Journée de la vérité et de la réconciliation est une occasion d'écouter, d'apprendre et de réfléchir aux questions qui touchent les nations autochtones. Mais il est également important d'emporter ces changements et ces réflexions avec nous afin qu'ils puissent se refléter dans notre vie quotidienne.
Sur ce, nous allons lire le rapport sur la vérité et la réconciliation et laisser la parole à ceux qui sont au centre de cette journée. Nous espérons que cette journée marque le début de la guérison pour tous ceux qui portent le traumatisme de notre histoire.
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September 30, 2021 marked the first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. A day created by the federal government with the idea of honoring the memory of missing children and survivors of residential schools, their families and their communities.
For this day, I asked myself: What can I, as a white person, do on this day to honor this day of truth and reconciliation ?
In asking the question publicly, I received many interesting ideas and I share my favorites with you:
First and foremost, I believe that the most important thing to do is to understand and reflect. The more we learn about the history of Aboriginal people and their issues, the better equipped we are as allies. This is why Greg and I chose to read the Truth and Reconciliation Report.
Authors, artisans, entrepreneurs. The choice is there to support the aboriginal community. A friend of mine said that her solution would be to buy all her Christmas gifts from native businesses. This is the kind of concrete gesture that, little by little, transforms our habits and impregnates our mentalities.
An orange sweater is an orange sweater. It won't magically revolutionize mindsets. But it will create visibility. Drawing attention to the issue, sparking conversations, is essential to creating change in people's minds.
The Day of Truth and Reconciliation is a time to listen, learn and reflect on issues that affect Aboriginal nations. But it is also important to take these changes and reflections with us so that they can be reflected in our daily lives.
With that, we will read the Truth & Reconciliation report and leave the floor to those who are at the center of this day. We hope that this day marks the beginning of healing for all those who carry the trauma of our history.
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À propos du concours international de sauces chaudes et l'expérience culinaire :
Le concours international de sauces chaudes et l'expérience culinaire soutiennent les restaurants, les établissements vinicoles, les brasseries et les spiritueux locaux, ainsi que les meilleures sauces chaudes de la planète.
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Parmi les participants de cette année, vous trouverez :
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1500 participants du monde entier
470 sauces en compétition
96 entreprises de sauces
Cette année, ils ont soutenu le Fonds d'aide aux veuves, aux orphelins et à l'assistance des pompiers du comté de Ventura et la Fondation Old Boney Mountain pour les enfants.
Vous pouvez en savoir plus sur le concours ici.
Pour éssayer la sauce, nous vous offrons 20% de rabais. Utilisez cette code: Ginger
(Nos rabais usuels resteront en force.)
City | Price for our average size box |
Montreal | $19.93 |
Toronto | $18.19 |
Vancouver | $27.07 |
New York City | $41.19 |
Los Angeles | $51.73 |
Anchorage | $51.73 |
Paris | $70.72 |
London | $70.72 |
Rio de Janeiro | $82.23 |
Johannesburg | $84.46 |
Sydney | $78.22 |
As you can see, if we offer free shipping given our International customer base, we will lose money constantly and that is no good for anyone.
Instead of offering free shipping, we made the decision, instead, to offer sales discounts, and quantity discounts that would, (should) cover the cost of shipping for our best customers.
Members of our Peppermaster Club are absolutely our best customers and as such deserve the most reward for supporting us.
When you order AND you are a member of the Peppermaster Club, simply enter the words "Peppermaster Club" in the comments and based on your product choices, the Peppermaster will choose a comparable product for you to try and this will be added to your order at no extra cost.
And we promise that when we become as big as Amazon, we will offer free shipping, again!
Yours,
Tina
NOUVELLES HEURES D'OUVERTURE : Si vous avez l'habitude de nous rendre visite le dimanche, Greg et moi avons décidé de prendre un jour de congé pour se reposer et garder la pêche. Donc, si vous passez par le magasin cette journée-là, la porte sera peut-être fermée. N'hésitez pas à nous appeler pour prendre rendez-vous avec nous. Comme nous n'habitons pas très loin, ce n’est qu’un dix secondes de trajet à faire si nous savons que vous venez.
Greg et moi voulions être sûrs que vous sachiez que non seulement vous pouvez acheter nos produits en ligne sur www.peppermaster.com, mais que vous pouvez également venir visiter notre boutique à Rigaud, au Québec.
Nous sommes ouverts les jours de semaine de 8h30 à 15h00, sauf le vendredi et le samedi où nous sommes ouverts de 10h00 à 17h00.
Si jamais vous passez par la boutique et que la porte est verrouillée, appelez le numéro sur la porte pour le service, parfois nous travaillons dans la cour arrière mais il nous fait toujours plaisir de vous voir.
À bientôt!
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We are a family business, run with the same love and attention that we put into our products.
We are now looking for like-minded individuals to contribute to the team. Are you energetic and talented? Looking for a really cool Summer job or even a career position with an upwardly mobile local company?
Our ideal candidate is eligible for the Emploi-Québec wage subsidy OR the Canada Summer Jobs program. If this job offer speaks to you, send us your resume!: tbrooks@peppermaster.com
EXPERIENCE the pepper and know its Truth.
Let go the expectations of your Mind. A name has no meaning.
You co-create, you and that pepper, the experience of tasting and at that moment you will know each other's Soul.
The name is irrelevant.
The Experience is the Truth.
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