You can eat pretty well off onions, carrots, turnips, potatoes, rice, beans, and beets.

I’ll add lentils to the list. The dried ones work like beans but cook like rice with no soaking, and cost nothing here because we’re such a big producer. Spices are also pretty much non-perishable in a sealed container. There’s all kinds of niche canned goods you can find, too, and of course fruit. The only thing I’d really miss is greens.

Someday I’m going to write a non-perishable recipe book and start ordering cans wholesale in advance.

Also ground horse meat was super cheap for some reason in Montreal, and actually really good. I think I was in the 2-5$ range per meal.

We produce a lot for some reason, even though at least the Anglo half culturally doesn’t eat it.

I would say the biggest effect of Covid was we began to question our assumption that America is some sort of well-organized paradise. People here still have a pretty high opinion of the USA, but it really got knocked down a peg that year.

It looks great via Hollywood, but once you’re up close you realise the political gridlock is all-consuming.

People still have a positive opinion of Canada, at least until they try to get a visitor visa… that process has been an embarrassing mess for 5+ years, even without the recent hiccup!

Well that’s nice. Yeah, some of our government departments are an absolute nightmare. I honestly wonder if we need to rebuild them from the ground up. It shouldn’t be that hard to get basic paperwork done.