People: Making Connections

As the food system became more industrialized and commercial, we became disconnected from the people who grew and produced our food. 

People: Effecting Change

Public institutions are large, often complex organizations that face many challenges to implementing and sustaining changes to procurement. In many cases, getting more local food into them is less about finding Ontario food options and more about getting buy-in from the staff that will be impacted by directives to source Ontario food.

A Regional Food Distribution Pilot Project

Ontarians are increasingly supporting the health, social, economic, and environmental benefits that come with the choice of buying local food. This shift towards local food is gradually giving new shape to Ontario’s food system.

By moving to meet the demands of their customers, the value chain is finding ways to provide more local food as part of their business model. However, desire alone on the part of customers and suppliers is not enough to effect permanent and systemic change in Ontario’s food system.

People: Attitudes and Beliefs

The majority of broader public sector (BPS) institutions are large organizations and making organizational change in one area can affect the jobs of many people. As such, moving forward on changes without broad support from relevant staff members can lead to a myriad of setbacks. For this reason, it is important to pay attention to the attitudes and beliefs of all involved staf

Access: Aggregating Ontario Product

Historically, farmers in Ontario have delivered their produce directly to local grocery retailers, restaurants, and institutions. This practice has largely disappeared for two reasons. First, distributors emerged as a one-stop shop for restaurants and institutions to obtain product, eliminating the need for multiple suppliers. Second, as franchises and corporate foodservice companies became more dominant, fixed contracts with select distributors to supply categories of products have become the norm.

Access: Identifying Processed Food Origin

Previously, we talked about the challenges associated with identifying and tracking Ontario foods in order databases. There are more challenges, however, when it comes to processed foods. There is currently no industry-wide accepted definition for “Ontario Processed Food”. 

Access: Identifying Fresh Ontario Food

Knowing where fresh food comes from plays an important role in the ability of an institution or their foodservice operator/distributor to buy Ontario product.

Access, People, Policy and Product

Motivated by the growing demand for locally grown food, public sector institutions have begun making the switch to local food for their clients.

Local Food Solutions: Addressing Barriers to Ontario Food Procurement

Consumers are increasingly asking for and consuming more locally grown food. The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservice Association has listed local food as the top food trend for the past three years, while the creative food economy has seen an annual growth rate of 15-25%.