Often, when we return home from one of our weekly supermarket shopping trips, it occurs to me how wonderful it is to be able to venture out a short distance from our home to find available all manner of whole foodstuffs that will give us the opportunity to enjoy a full range of healthy and nutritious meals. Many Canadians, and others living in this country, likely do not fully appreciate how fortunate we are, along with those of other first-world nations for whom a whole spectrum of food choices is readily available. The cost of acquiring such a deliriously appetizing array of fresh foods remains relatively approachable even by those whose incomes are tight, unlike our own.

We have, though, become accustomed to sharing what we have when we can, to help local food banks in their mission to aid those individuals and families for whom the cost of food creates a financial burden. Most supermarkets routinely place a large receiving bin for the collection of foodstuffs, to be picked up by volunteers operating food banks, for wide distribution to those in need. For us, this weekly exercise in community caring has been a multi-decades-old habit. One we continued when we lived abroad for awhile.

When we return from our shopping, it is with relief and with gratitude for all the reasons above. The choices we are given access to enhances the quality of our lives, as it does for all those who are conscious to how vital it is to our well-being to take these opportunities for granted. Just as communication capabilities have been advanced with technology, so too has the importation of once-only-seasonably-available whole foods, now seen everywhere on market shelves. 

In the large supermarket where we shop, close to our home, there are central aisles set aside for the copious shelving to carry ethnic foods from the Caribbean, from Mexico, from India and China, and the Middle East. Concurrently, when we shop we see people busily engaged in filling their shopping carts whose visible minority status identifies them as immigrants.

This is a reflection in recognition of Canada as a multi-ethnic kaleidoscope of countless  cultures from around the world who chose to make Canada their home. Canada, as a country built on immigration, welcomes them all. And we do our best to live in harmony with one another, perhaps aware of our surface differences, but equally conscious of the fact that we are, after all is said and done, the same. The children are equally beautiful, the opportunities for them to aspire to their hearts' desire equally available. In this we trust.

Apart from the supermarkets, there are small family-owned businesses and specialty shops, and in the summer and fall months farmers' markets. Outdoor markets to access locally-grown agricultural crops are colourful and appealing, and people with discriminating tastes often flock to them, a social occasion as well as a necessity. Yes, we're beyond fortunate.