Halton Healthcare is harnessing their sector’s potential to change the food system. With three community hospitals serving more than half a million patient meals a year, Halton Healthcare is using its purchasing power to bring more healthy, Ontario food to market.

Read Knowing Your Power to Purchase Local

As far back as 2008, the City of Thunder Bay has been working to strengthen and connect their local food system to their municipally-run facilities. The City has emerged as a leader in food systems planning in the province, having adopted the Thunder Bay Food Charter, the Community Environmental Action Plan, a Community Garden Policy and supported the Thunder Bay and Area Food Strategy.

Read Breaking Down Local Food Barriers: Food Forwards Contracts in Thunder Bay

The Golden Horseshoe Food and Farming Alliance (GHFFA) project, Serving Up Local, is a partnership with Durham and Halton regions, and the City of Hamilton, to increase the amount of local foods offered in their facilities with a special focus on long-term care homes. To help build the capacity of other regions wanting to take on a similar initiative they have generated case studies, a project manual, and communications pieces which are available on their website.

A new report from the Greenbelt Fund details the experience in piloting an integrated regional system in southern Ontario. The project linked producers in the Greater Golden Horseshoe to a large institutional food service buyer through a regional food hub and a broadline distributor.

Read Regional Food Hub Pilot Project Case Study

Read Regional Food Hub Pilot Project Regional Profiles

The City of Hamilton’s two municipally-run long-term care homes successfully incorporated local meat substitutions, finding products that were higher in protein per gram of meat than imported alternatives used in healthcare. This case study gives a quick synopsis of their activities and results with Serving Up Local. 

Read the Serving Up Local Case Study: City of Hamilton Supporting Local & Sustainable Meats in Long-Term Care

Nutrition Services staff in Halton Region increased local food purchases by 43.5% in their long-term care homes. This 2 page case study gives a quick synopsis of their activities and results with Serving Up Local. 

Read the Serving Up Local Case Study: Halton Region Championing Local Along the Food Value Chain in Long-Term Care

The Region of Durham’s four Regionally owned and operated long-term care homes are successfully changing the perceived bias around health care food by increasing the amount of local foods offered in their facilities. This case study gives a quick synopsis of their activities and results with Serving Up Local. 

Read the Serving Up Local Case Study: Region of Durham Refreshing Food in Long-Term Care

Check out Sustain Ontario's New Urban Agriculture Toolkit!

The toolkit covers a wide range of urban agriculture topics, including: raising hens, growing on private property, school garden, community garden, beekeeping, farmers' market, and more!

This case study explores how public institutions can use the procurement process to maximize the impact of their collective $750 million annual food spends. The case described spans four years and focuses on how a public sector group purchasing organization leveraged its buying power to enable a local sustainable cattle-processor to break into the institutional food service market. The case demonstrates how public sector purchasing contributes to bringing local and sustainable farming an food businesses to scale.

Read Farm To Institution: The Power Of Public Sector Purchasing

In this case study, Ross Memorial Hospital, in the City of Kawartha Lake, dispels some of the myths associated with local food procurement. This article originally appeared in the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care.

Read Ross Memorial Hospital Decreases Ecological Footprint With Wholesome, Nutritious Local Food