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"= -groceries:-each week 3 CM TA CET sis bi ; In fact, of the 15 capitals surveyed, the worker in" | = = sx editoriol The High Cost of Food? Despite the fact that Canadians are paying about 10 per cent more for food than at this time last year, recent studies show that when compared to other countries around the world, our weekly food-basket is cheaper by a long shot. Although a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of sirloin steak now costs $8 In our capital city of Ottawa, the same amount and quality of meat costs the Japanese consumer $40 in a Tokyo market. Pork Chops in Stockholm will set you back to the tune of $21 for a kilogram; and in Paris, considered the cuisine capital of the world, a kilogram of bacon retails for $21, while shoppers in Ottawa will pay $3.30. In fact, the recent study of 15 world capitals puts Ottawa third from the bottom in food prices, and Ottawa prices are generally comparable to those in most areas of Canada. - Here are some further examples. A 21-item food basket in Ottawa costs slightly more than $61. The same items in London, England cost $85; in Paris $109; in Bern $118; in Stockholm $135; and in Tokyo a whopping $151. While the cost of food baskets is one measure, it is brought into sharper perspective when one calcu- lates how long an average worker must work to pay for the weekly groceries. In Ottawa, eight hours on the job (on average) pays for the weekly groceries. The Parisian would work close to 18 hours; and the worker in Buenas Aires spends almost 30 hours on the job for his Ottawa would spend the least arhount of time on the iob to pay for the weekly food basket, and the survey includes Washington, D.C. Canadians on average spend about 18 per cent of their disposable income on groceries, which is considerably lower than people in most other Wes- tern democracies. And while shoppers in the Iron Curtain countries may get staples such as potatoes cheaper than we do in Canada, how many times do Canadians have to line up for such things as oranges, fresh meat and dairy products? } Certainly, all consumers in this country can't help but notice that the price of food is on the rise here, and has been for the past several years. But compared to other countries, we are not as badly off as we think we are. The truth of the matter is that the average AC X O & ola gt SS " WN So [Bs NA EINREZS 4 hi a) ' N & MNS = Ka 3 fei 2 N ST LJ) NAR RD N N >, X BW lis hs, ; N Dey BN QR Wr NRE a ERAN IAN 3 BN N RNR $ SN Q "WELL, ONE THING, WEVE GOT A GORGEOUS cAaGcGle oF GEESE N ANN STN EE i NN NNN RMIT RR a ANNI 3S MMIIIINIGS Sl Re Y | Ne NN) ips NY Re NR a -_\ AN Canadian eats better for less than just about anybody else in the world. We are the last ones who should be getting indigestion over the price of our food. Ld Ld Ld A Fitting Companion Last week, Governor-General Edward Schreyer pinned the Order of Canada Companion medal to the chest of a young man who this summer became a symbol of courage and dedication for all Canadians. The Companion of the Order of Canada is this country's highest medal of honour, and Terry Fox is as deserving of this award as anyone. So much has been said and written about his exploits this summer to raise money for cancer research. Suffice to say now that there has never been a Terry Fox in this country's history, and it will likely be a long time before another one comes along. The young man showed the people of this lethargic and at times cynical nation that with sheer determination, the human spirit can do just about anything. His Marathon of Hope will continue, not only in the fight against cancer, but among Canadians who will look to his example in just about anything they do, and say 'Yes, it can be done.' smil WHO REALLY WON? Vastly outnumbered, out-gunned, less experienced, "the few" who constituted the RAF fighter force savaged the German Luftwaffe so severely that the invasion of Britain was first post-poned and eventually never occurred. It was purely a defensive action, but by the time it ended, the RAF was in very The actual commenced July 1, 1940 and ended October shaky condition. 31st, 1940. aircraft that tore the guts out of the Luftwaffe, but eventually wound up flying Typhoons, and hanging around for endless months waiting for the invasion of the continent. this battle, which saved the western world from at least decades of darkness under an amoral mutt and his pals, that Germany is one of the richest countries in Europe, the British Empire has virtually vanished, and "Battle" - It's ironic and sad that, forty years after- -- . It's the fortieth anniversary of the Battle of Britain, and there are air force ___reunions in Toronto and Winnipeg, to name only two. Bald-headed, bifocalled, pot-bellied old guys, who were once lithe and lean and sexy and with 20-20 vision, will foregather and have a few drinks, and.embellish the old days with fantastic embroidery until their --wives.-drag-them-off to-bed: -- = After the Friday and Saturday night hilarities, they will totter out of bed, don their blue blazers and berets and march rather shakily, all ribbons on display, to a cenotaph or something, and quietly snatch forty winks while an ancient padre intones some paraphrase of Wintston Churchill, like "How could so few show up today when so many were talking last night about how many owed so much to so few..." or something like that. Ninety-seven per cent of them were not in the Battle of Britain, which was fought in August and September of 1940, but they were old airmen, or "ancient combatants," as it says on my measly pension cheque, and a good excuse for one last fling before they are put out to pasture. Bless them all. I might even turn up myself, if only to compare whiteness of hair (or none at all), waistlines, and "'partial plates" a euphemism for false teeth. Despite all this, and despite the fact that the Battle of Britain means no more to today's young people than the Battle of Thermopylae, it was a major turning point in World War II. } How about a little review? The Battle of France was over. The French had been soundly licked. The British had too, but declared it a 'victory' when they managed to scramble about 300,000 bodies out of the Dunkerque trap: Germany ruled almost all of Europe, and was poised to attack Britain, with vastly superior forces. Hitler danced a gavotte in a railway car where Germany gave up in 1918. Churchill came up with one of those great crotund orations, with a little help from Shakespeare, his speech writers, but delivered with that raspy, half-lisp that became so familiar that it raised the daun- ted to the point of dauntlessness. In June, 1940, he ended a great rally-cry with, "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, "This was their finest hour." Jolly good speech, though there's not much left of the British Empire, and the Commonwealth is pretty dicey. Fact is, the British did brace them- selves, when fat Hermann Goering threw all his toys at them, first by day, then by night. More than 500 pilots of the RAF were killed during that time period. Twenty of them were Canadians. One was from the U.S. The Poles lost 30 out of 147 pilots. Of the Australians, 63 per cent were killed. South Africa lost 41 per cent. France lost none. Just over 3,000 aircrew were engaged in fighter command operations during tha: period. Just over 2,500 survived. What happened to them? Before the war was over, almost 1,300 of the survivors were killed in action. Add it up. More than fifty per cent of the "few" were killed, and this does not take into the account the many who were wounded and sent to secondary duties, or honorably discharged, or posted to train- ing positions. Those who didn't survive were blown to pieces, drowned, burnt to death, or taken prisoner. During the B. of B., these young fellows' lives consisted of eating, sleeping, flying, drinking, and sweating. Most of them knew that however many medals they acquired, or how quickly they rose in rank, their number was written on the slate. They were a gallant lot. I wish I'd been one of them, but I'm also glad I'm alive. But I was just one of the young fellows who finally decided the war was getting serious and we should join up. I trained on both the Hurricane and Spitfire, the two .the Canadian dollar, after we contributed more than 70,000 aircrew to the struggle, is worth 47 cents. But that's nothing. Let's give a thought to '""the few", those great young guys who went 'once more into the breach, dear friends," when the rest of us were whining about gas rationing and only one quart of booze a month. Company Limited ' Phone 985.7343 Sa (Cin (OUR) 2 "reg Sd Serving the Township of Scugog (in Wo J.PETER HVIDSTEN Publisher Advertising Manager J.B. MCCLELLAND Editor Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and Onlario Weekly Newspaper Association Published every Wednesday by the Port Perry Star Co. Ltd., Port Perry, Ontario Authorized as second class mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa, and for payment of postage incash Second Class Mail Registration Number 0285 - (port perry star 2) Dy