The City of Toronto successfully undertook to increase the procurement of locally sourced and processed foods foods in their Long Term Care and Services from 19% to 25%. This presentation summarizes the communication tools, food substitutions and other steps that made this Broader Public Sector project a success. 

Read the City of Toronto - Long Term Care Local Food Purchasing Practice Assessment presentation

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

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.

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

On Jan 10, we hosted a workshop that connected buyers and sellers through the local food value chain. Furthermore, presentations were given in a number of areas to educate buyers and sellers on the purchasing and selling of local food. Here are the slides of all the presentations given.

This report by My Sustainable Canada documents the current state of local food usage in Ontario’s long-term care sector.

Most of the 600+ homes in Ontario do not track local food usage and many report barriers to adding these items to their menus. With an estimated annual raw food spend in excess of $210 million, Ontario’s long-term care sector represents a significant opportunity for local producers.

Read Local Food and Ontario's Long-Term Care Sector.

As part of Sick Kids Hospital's vision of increasing locally-grown, healthy food on its menu, Executive Chef Shawn Studholme has developed 64 recipes that are locally-sourced from Ontario suppliers that meet the most stringent food safety standards, include portion size, recipe yield, cost-per-unit, and suggested selling price. 

View The Recipes

In 2015, Halton Healthcare hopped aboard Ontario's Local Food Act and put into writing a Local Food Procurement Statement to promote the use of local food in their hospitals. The statement outlines the steps and criteria in which Halton Healthcare will formulate a Local Food Procurement Strategy, and create a shareable plan and process between the hospitals and local producers to integrate suppliers into the purchasing structure of the hospitals.

Read Halton Healthcare's Local Food Procurement Statement

Additionally, Halton Healthcare had developed six nutritious recipes whose ingredients can be sourced locally.

View The Recipes.