WH ITBY FR EE PRESS, THUR SDAY, JULY 26, 1973, PA6-E- BIRD'S EÈYE VIEW. * by JAM Qerf And Up....And Up The price of food is going up! So what else is new? Who is to blame? Personally I blame the people who consume the food, you and I. We can hardly blame the farmer because his average wage is well below the $5000. bracket. The processors aren't exactly making a fortune either which brings us to the grocery stores. Some food chains such as Dominion look financially healthy and growing but Loblaws is definitely floundering. Either Loblaws is plagued by bad management or they aren't making the tremendous profits many would have us beleive - or a combination of both. As with most businesses the grocery stores are in business to give the customer what he or she wants... at a profit. The statement may sound logically simple but therein lies the problem of high food prices. The customer wants more and more convenience foods these days. After checking out the results of a preliminary survey the foof chains go ahead and try a convenience food on the mà rket. If it sells well then it stays on the shelves and usually the customers continue to buy it. When we buy food from a grocery store we seem to expect it to spring out from a colourful package, after pulling a little string, and the food should land in a neat, steamy mound on our plates, already cooked, garnished and vitaminized. Sounds silly eh? So did TV dinners and instant potatoes 10 years ago. Orange juice now comes in cans, bottles, foil packages and frozen tins but what ever happened to orange juice in oranges? What happened was we paid somebody else to squeeze our oranges and they either condensed the juice and froze it or crystallized it. They added their charge for doing this to the final price of the product and you and I willingly paid it - reasonable or not! We demanded beverages in throw - away cans and bottles and the charge for this convenience was two - fold. The product cost was higher and our taxes also became higher because we threw those non - returnable containers all over our highways, parks and recreation areas. The government hired people to clean up the mess and try to educate us not to litter and, again, we paid the bill. Meat has gone up drastically but I'm not sure anyone has the answer to that dilemma. The theories have been wild and wonderful but the one which makes the most sense is simply that the demand is greater than the supply. Of course if we allow our companies to ship the beef all over the world we can expect to run into a few shortages such as the one we are about to face with gasoline. Instead of paying the farmers out west not to grow wheat why don't we make it more profitable for them to raise beef? When was the last time yoú went in to a large chain store and picked out your own ptoatoes from a large bin? Quite a while l'il bet. Somewhere along the line we paid somebody to carefully wash and package those potatoes into five and ten pound packages. Actually, I never considered picking my own potatoes and washing them much of a chore but a lot of people apparently did think it was a chore. As for lotteries, gimmicks and contests l'Il let those pass too. If I want to take a chance on winning something l'il scoot down to the track or buy a sweepstakes ticket, but l'm not in favour of subsidizing the grocery chains so they can run all kinds of contests. It's for sure the grocery chains aren't in business to give away money so the money for the promotions and contests or what have you will come from the customers. Whoopee, that's you and 1! As for TV dinners I don't get much time to watch TV anyway so i guess l'Il just plod along and make my own fixin's. Food is getting so expensive I may have to give it up for Lent....or get a raise. JULY 28 JULY 29 JULY 30 JULY 31 AUGUST I AUGUST 2 AUGUST 3 AUGUST 4 AUGUST 5 AUGUST 6 ANTIGUA Antigua, the 108-square-mile island in the that has been growing in popularity with holidayers ever since Air Canada selected it stop on the airlines run clown the eastern is noted most of ail for its white sand beaches. West Indies Canadian as the first Caribbean, Altogether there are 365 of them, Antiguans say, one for every day of the year. And it is not unusual for visitors to have a beach to themselves, like the two girls shown here. But Antigua isn't all beaches. It also offers holidayers golf, tennis, sailing, snorkelling and sightseeing. In the last category is the restored dockyard at English Harbour where Admiral Nelson made his headquarters when he was stationed there as a young captain in 1784. While there he met and married the widow Nisbet from the ne. ighbouring island of Nevis. At that time, Lady Hamilton and Trafalgar were still far in the future. 11 BIG DAYS OF FUN! JULY 27 - AUGUST 6 "WHITBY HOMECOMING '73" DON'T MISS THESE EXCITING EVENTS -- NAVY LEAGUE BAZAAR -- FOOT RACES -- OPEN - AIR MUSICAL CONCERT -- PYJAMA PARADE AND DANCE -- OPEN - AIR CHURCH SERVICE -- MOTORCYCLE SCRAMBLES -- DRIVING SKILL TEST -- CARNIVAL OF HISTORY -- PETER PERRY AWARD AND CARNIVAL OPENING -- TRAIN ABOUT TOWN -- CARNIVAL OF HISTORY -- YMCA DAY CAMP FAMILY NIGHT -- CARNIVAL OF HISTORY -- KIWANIS BARBEQUE -- DANCES -- JOY '73 GOSPEL SINGING -- DOWNTOWN MALL -- HOMECOMING RECEPTION -- GIANT PARADE -- ROTARY PANCAKE BREAKFAST -- KIWANIS SOAP BOX DERBY -- FIREWORKS DISPLAY PROGRAMS AVAILABLE AT INFORMATION BOOTH OPPOSITE SEE PROGRAM FOR TIMES AND LOCATIONS IT'S COUNTY TOWN CARNIVAL TIME!!