Teaching the Importance of Ontario Food, Toronto $200,000

George Brown College Centre for Hospitality and Culinary Arts (CHCA) focused their efforts on boosting the amount of Ontario grown food purchased by the college. Beginning with an audit to determine the amount of locally grown food the College was currently purchasing, the CHCA implemented preference for Ontario-grown product in RFPs. They then completed a pilot to process and preserve fruit and vegetables on-site. For example, St. Michael’s Hospital is now using a newly created pizza sauce. A revised first-year curriculum at CHCA features Ontario produce, proteins, and dairy. At the time of the project, CHCA projected local food buy increases of five to ten percent in the first year to a minimum annual spend of $300,000 within five years.