Bringing Microgreens to Broader Public Sector Institutions $50,000

Greenbelt Greenhouse Ltd. will invest in automation equipment for packaging and labelling their clamshell containers, which will increase capacity and reduce costs. This will allow Greenbelt Microgreens to be cost-competitive and gain access to large scale broader public sector institutions.

Promoting Local Food Procurement Across Ontario's Universities and Colleges, Toronto $125,000

Meal Exchange will pilot a Real Food Challenge and Campus Food Report Card at 8 Ontario Universities to rank and promote local food procurement on campus, and engage students to influence university decision-makers to increase local food procurement.

Increasing Local Food Procurement at Ontario Colleges, Hamilton $107,500

Mohawk College will spearhead a two-year program to develop a local food procurement model for Ontario colleges, in a first for Ontario. Along with increasing local food literacy at Mohawk College, the pilot is expected to increase local food purchases at the three participating colleges by $1.5 million over two years.

HACCP Compliance and Training, Toronto $69,000

Real Food for Real Kids will overcome a significant barrier to serving local food in Toronto hospitals by obtaining HACCP certification for its facility. Once certified, Real Food for Real Kids will be able to prepare delicious, nutritious local food for hospitals like St. Michael’s Hospital and Scarborough General.

Creating a Provincial Plate $130,000

Dana Hospitality will work with its suppliers to create a daily Provincial Plate – a full meal consisting of only Ontario products for its Broader Public Sector clients. Dana will increase market access for 30 Ontario farmers and processors, and will increase purchase of Ontario food by $1.8m during the grant period.

Packaging Line Implementation Project for Expansion of Public Sector Protein Supply, St. Clements $115,000

Stemmler Meats and Cheese will invest in automated packaging and new technologies to support growth and increase protein sales to school boards, long-term care facilities and hospitals. The project is expected to increase sales to the broader public sector by 103% to $1.8 million in 2017.

Increasing Municipal Local food Procurement in 3 Golden Horseshoe Municipalities, Vaughan $100,000

The TRCA and Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance will work with municipal partners to increase local food procurement in long-term care facilities. With the Public Health division in Hamilton spearheading the project, it is expected that local food procurement will increase by 5% in 3-4 participating municipalities over two years, for a permanent increase of $270,000 annually in local food purchases.

From the Ground Up - Supporting Municipalities to Buy Local, Toronto $50,000

Sustain Ontario will implement the recommendations resulting from the planning grant awarded in 2013. They will work with Durham Region, Chatham-Kent, and Bruce County to refine and implement local food procurement plans in a variety of institutions including long-term care homes, daycares, municipal offices, and a convention center.

Ontario Goat Milk: Assessing Market Opportunities in the BPS, Guelph $25,000

Ontario Goat Breeders Association is working to quantify the market opportunities for goat milk in the Broader Public Sector. This includes benchmarking current goat milk sales, and identifying areas for future growth. They will also determine what the current consumption levels are of goat milk/goat milk products such as yogurt and ice cream, and the barriers to increased consumption within the BPS.

Developing the Ontario BPS-Food and Beverage Processing Sector Value Chain, Guelph $25,000

Food and Beverage Ontario will build awareness of the local food market opportunities in the Broader Public Sector to their members. This will result in a discussion paper outlining the main product needs and opportunities in the BPS followed by a business development workshop.