Bringing Food From Canada

[bankr63]

This is s great post. I don't find groceries cheaper in central Florida and quality is much lower than what I'm used to at home for the same price.

This also surprises me. We generally travel to Orlando in March and are always so happy with the amount of fresh local produce available. Some citrus is still being picked, and strawberry season is just beginning; that's still about 3 months away at home. Vegetables from Southern US and Mexico have much less travel to the Florida Groceries; but then our local Loblaws only seems to put out rotting veggies.

Since the US dollar has skyrocketed, we find that grocery prices are about the same (before exchange), so yes they are overall more expensive with the exchange (recent opinion here based more on our late summer camping trips to Upper NYS than Florida last March). But we eat in mostly and don't see our grocery bill increase that much when travelling. Garden Grocer will certainly inflate the bill though. We do love that we can find all our favorite GF brands down there (Kinnikinnick, UDI's) with bigger selections. The prices on those GF items generally seem to be similar after exchange (even tho Kinni is made in Canada).

ETA - the only reason I raise these is that it is interesting that two families can have such different perspectives on groceries in the area.

 

[quandrea]

This also surprises me. We generally travel to Orlando in March and are always so happy with the amount of fresh local produce available. Some citrus is still being picked, and strawberry season is just beginning; that's still about 3 months away at home. Vegetables from Southern US and Mexico have much less travel to the Florida Groceries; but then our local Loblaws only seems to put out rotting veggies.

Since the US dollar has skyrocketed, we find that grocery prices are about the same (before exchange), so yes they are overall more expensive with the exchange (recent opinion here based more on our late summer camping trips to Upper NYS than Florida last March). But we eat in mostly and don't see our grocery bill increase that much when travelling. Garden Grocer will certainly inflate the bill though. We do love that we can find all our favorite GF brands down there (Kinnikinnick, UDI's) with bigger selections. The prices on those GF items generally seem to be similar after exchange (even tho Kinni is made in Canada).

ETA - the only reason I raise these is that it is interesting that two families can have such different perspectives on groceries in the area.

Where do you shop when down there? We've tried Publix, Garden Grocer, Winn Dixie and Target. All with the same poor quality. Lettuce is wilting, brown and flavourless. Strawberries mushy and white, mealy apples, grapes that last only a day. Here at home my lettuce is crisp and easily lasts a week, grapes are crisp and remain so, apples juicy and full of flavour. Even strawberries, if I'm willing to pay the price can be lovely. I've looked online for smaller markets, to no avail. Here at home I shop at a small local market and the quality is superb. Never shop at Loblaws or the other the other major grocery chains for produce. Fruits and veggies are something I really miss when in Florida.

 

[bankr63]

Where do you shop when down there? We've tried Publix, Garden Grocer, Winn Dixie and Target. All with the same poor quality. Lettuce is wilting, brown and flavourless. Strawberries mushy and white, mealy apples, grapes that last only a day. Here at home my lettuce is crisp and easily lasts a week, grapes are crisp and remain so, apples juicy and full of flavour. Even strawberries, if I'm willing to pay the price can be lovely. I've looked online for smaller markets, to no avail. Here at home I shop at a small local market and the quality is superb. Never shop at Loblaws or the other the other major grocery chains for produce. Fruits and veggies are something I really miss when in Florida.

I think we are just having different experiences.

Most of our groceries are bought at the Publix on Vineland (Regency Village) when staying at Sheraton Vistana Resort or on Irlo Bronson (Orange Lake Town Centre) if at Silver Lake. Have also shopped both the Publix and Whole Foods on Sand Lake. Best strawberries are from a road side vendor on 535 at the 417 overpass (back of truck), they often have nice tomatoes too.

But this could just be a time of year difference. I do agree that sometimes these things don't keep quite as well as in Canada, but I blame that somewhat on the heat, and that (I assume) items are picked closer to ripeness in the South. Face it, most of the fruits and many veggies that we get in Canada are picked further from ripeness so they will transport.

I think that the Loblaws problem here in Ottawa is that it is probably 2-3 days on a truck to Toronto, where it sits in a warehouse until they send a truckload up our way (probably 2 + more days). Nothing ever seems fresh here by the time it gets on the shelf, but it was probably picked a week earlier. We do have local chains (Metro warehouses here, and Farm Boy is a local green grocer) that have MUCH better and fresher produce. But I still find in March that the produce is better in Florida JMHO.

 

[suziespice]

I've brought fresh fruit across (snacks for my kids on the plane)..well that got me put into the special customs line at the airport...but they let us through with the apples! Also load the checked luggage with snacks, cookies, granola bars, etc.. my daughter is allergic to peanuts and learned the hard way on our first trip that quaker granola bars that are peanut free here are not peanut free down there.. had a giant box of them that we couldn't let her eat.

 

[sherilaine]

We have gone across the border with an RV before and were allowed to take pretty much anything other than fruit and certain meat/fish - which would change depending on how the wind blew. I called the actual border crossing one time and was told that they have a list each week of what to ask people about and the meat changes quite often, but fruit, especially citrus and melons was always on the list. Firewood, firearms, fireworks and alcohol are usually always asked as well.

You would be surprised how much you can bring though - and they really do not care about any food that is non perishable. One thing I learned was if you wanted lemon juice - just bring the squeeze container rather than fresh lemons as they don't care about stuff like that. I just had a list of all the stuff I was bringing and offered it to them, sometimes they took and sometimes they did not, but it certainly made for a more easy crossing when they see you are prepared.

I think you will have no problem!

 

[MidnightParade]

With regards to snack foods... for what you save on the currency.... it may take up with valuable luggage space or risk potential overweight charges. I usually buy stuff at the destination so I don't need to carry them. Once I arrive, I usually go looking for the nearest Walmart to just get what I need for the days I'm there.

I will say on our trip I packed up cereal, granola bars and a few other snackie/breakfast things and they made a great place holder for the souvenirs I planned to bring back. Assured space for my new purchases. Although if it's someone who doesn't gets souvenirs.....

I did make sure everything I brought was sealed in original packaging and brand name just to be on the safe side. Nice to hear that others have had mostly good encounters with resealed stuff

 

[momof2gr8kids]

We brought in our suitcases things like granola bars, cereal bars, trail mix, home made muffins, tortilla wraps, Nan bread, spices, condiments, salad dressing, croutons, bacon bits, cereal, dip mixes (for veggies n dip), peanut butter, nutella, paper plates, napkins, plastic cups, crackers, pasta noodles, protein powder, Made a list of easy things to make (and things kids could make themselves) and brought what we could from home and had a shorter list for shopping.

We cross the border often for camping and other than certain fruits and veggies (usually citrus, tomatoes) we've never had a problem. We don't bring over raw meat though, it's always cooked, so never had an issue with that. But you probably wouldn't want to bring that in your suit case anyways.

 

[Janemall]

Do you usually get pulled into secondary questioning and have everything searched? Or is it fairly smooth and easy?

 

[squirrel]

I pack applesauce, cereal, fruit bars, granola bars when I do a WDW trip. The only time I know my luggage was searched was the year I brought some Tim Hortons coffee for the Pop Century fridge&coffee maker exchange. I also had Tide packed in individual bags. One or both of those must have triggered the search dog thinking I had drugs or something. I only noticed it was searched as my baggage tag was dusted for fingerprints (black fingerprint marks). Still not sure why they would have dusted for my prints as I know I didn't have drugs in the luggage.

 

[shaynar]

I would not bring any powdery and or leafy unlabeled substances in generic plastic bags. Sure they can sniff or swap and pull you aside and hold you up. For what to save a couple dollars? I would google maps your condo location and see what grocery stores are nearby. Sometimes it's worth an extra few bucks for less hassle. If you are buying fresh or refrigerated items and have to make a trip. Another few bucks isn't going to break your budget.

So we have dietary requirements and last year I made pancake mix to bring along. It was approx 4 cups of flour (white powder) in a freezer bag. I carried it on and no one stopped me!!!

I always bring tons of food and have never had problems. I bring things in bags just nothing fresh and no meat or dairy products.

 

[striker3636]

As a long time camper who has camped more in the US than Canada, as well as at Fort Wilderness, I never bring food over the border without checking the border protection website that pp has provided above. Also, it is safest to bring things in orginial packaging, especially preserving labels on fresh fruit and veggies. Some things may be permissable only if labelled properly so they can see the country of origin. As many have said...always declare what you have! If you don't mind taking the risk of having things taken away, that's fine. I've always preferred to be safe than sorry and perhaps pay a little more in the grocery shop stateside rather than throw out food. My crock pot was so helpful while at WDW. I would throw stuff in before we left for the day and when we came back for a break it was a much easier prep for dinner. Flying down this trip, I plan to bring a few packs of granola bars and snack foods and make a grocery stop on the way to the hotel for everything else. I have to pay for luggage fees so I'm not bothering to bring much down with me. In the camper trips, I always brought all my Non-perishables, snack foods, baking and spice stuff, condiments etc and purchased fresh over the border.

 

[hcoker1]

Thanks for the great ideas everyone. We go to Florida every March Break in some form or another and agree that groceries are not cheaper there. We're driving down to WDW this year so will bring water, pop, snack food with us. We will hit Publix and Einstein Brothers Bagels (our fave!) before checking in.