St. Paul’s “Strawberry Social” fundraiser has long been a staple of spring in Regina – with the Anglican church selling strawberries by the case for the last 35 years. However, price and supply uncertainty due to American policies have put organizers … in a jam.
“St. Paul’s is known as the church that, ‘Oh, you are the people that sell the strawberries,’” explained coordinator Angie Friedrich.
U.S. tariffs have created too much uncertainty for St. Paul’s to continue with its 35-year tradition.
“Number one being the tariffs and what was it actually going to cost us,” Friedrich added.
So rather than strawberries, organizers have turned to something quintessentially Canadian – Okanagan jam.
“So, our products come in these nice bags and inside you will find jams from Summerland Sweets,” Friedrich explained. “This one is a pure apricot jam. We have black current, apricot, maplapple and strawberry rhubarb.”
The church isn’t the only group turning to Canadian products – as CUPE sourced Saskatchewan made Harvest wieners for a recent barbecue and rally at the legislative building.
“We have made a point to ensure that we are using locally made products for our barbecues,” CUPE member Emily Hitchings. “It was noted earlier that our barbecues are frequently featuring the harvest brand, making sure that we are buying local and making sure that we are getting good quality food for everybody that we are serving today.”
The folks at St. Paul’s Cathedral don’t know if they will ever go back to selling U.S. strawberries.
They say the tariff dispute has everyone thinking about purchasing more Canadian products and they expect that will continue even if the dispute is settled.
