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Here is an shortened form of the article on the protest to give some idea of the issues. Of course the problems are much deeper than presented here. _________________________________________________________________ Saturday, October 31, 1998 Sobeys `Hood'-winked Group says grocer wants too much of the food pie By ANDREA MacDONALD -- The Daily News The sheriff of Nottingham missed his big chance yesterday when a gang dressed as Robin Hood played an early Halloween trick on a Halifax supermarket. Customers at the Windsor Street Sobeys store looked on quizzically as about 15 costumed "shoppers" pulled corn flakes, tomatoes, and shredded wheat from store shelves and dumped them into a donation bin for the Metro Food Bank Society. A Sobeys employee said later that the food would return to store shelves. Calling themselves the Merry People's Equal Redistribution Front, the twentysomething activists were trying to send the store's Stellarton-based owners a message. They fear the grocery giant's recent bid to take over IGA stores will give the company a stranglehold in the food market. The acquisition would make Sobeys the second-largest grocery chain in Canada, they added. "By taking on the classic role of Robin Hood," said group member Melody Leach, "we hope to convey our message of taking from the rich and giving to the poor in a playful and familiar way." Decked out in felt and cardboard hats capped with feathers, they perused the aisles for food and handed out leaflets to surprised shoppers. At about 6 p.m., they stationed themselves at the front of the crowded store and read out a proclamation that outlined their concerns over monopolies. "Go home," heckled a silver-haired man in navy clothes. Another shopper countered that the group's concerns were valid. "In one sense, I can see their point," said Madeline Shea of Halifax. "They're gobbling up the competition and it's not a far-fetched thing to think (eventually) they're going to set the prices. As far as I'm concerned, the grocery stores do revolving prices right now." _________________________________________________________________
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