Read about or comment on the following research and case studies or tell us about your own research or case study, lessons learned, best practices or other personal experiences in the comments section below.

Many initiatives across Canada support the development of local food infrastructure, including farmers markets, partnerships between farmers and retailers in urban areas, and community-supported agriculture.

Local Food Plus (LFP), a Toronto-based non-profit organization, works to certify farmers (mostly from Ontario’s Greenbelt) who meet certain social and environmental criteria and links them with local purchasers. LFP’s certification scheme is built on five principles: (1) employing sustainable production systems (which reduce pesticides and fertilizers, avoid hormones, antibiotics, and genetic engineering, and conserve soil and water), (2) providing safe and fair working conditions for on-farm labour, (3) providing healthy and humane care for livestock, (4) protecting and enhancing habitat and biodiversity on working farm landscapes, and (5) reducing food-related energy consumption.  Certification allows large purchasers access to supply of a guaranteed quality.  Thus far, Local Food Plus has certified roughly 70 farmers and distributors, while 29 retailers, restaurants, and institutions in southern Ontario sell certified LFP food.

Initiatives like LFP are but one way of supporting local food systems. Started in the early nineties, the non-profit Farm Folk/City Folk Society in Vancouver has been working towards “re-localizing” the food system in BC by supporting community-owned farms that produce food for local consumption, expanding the production of grains in southwestern BC, and educating city dwellers about the benefits of eating locally.  

Equiterre is a Quebec based organization that helps to support local food systems through the establishment of community-supported agriculture.  Consumers pre-purchase a share of a farmer’s harvest to increase the farmers’ financial security and food is delivered weekly to consumers across the province. There are 97 participating farms, with an estimated 7,500 contracts involving roughly 20,000 people penned this year.

Just Food in Ottawa provides information about resource-sharing for community gardens in the city, develops a food guide to local farms in the area around Ottawa, and, like Equiterre, provides networking for CSA farms in the Ottawa area.

FoodShare, a Toronto non-profit, was founded in 1985 by then Mayor of Toronto, Art Eggleton, and others seeking to address hunger issues in the city.  Over the years, it has taken a broader approach to addressing food insecurity by considering how food is produced, distributed, accessed, and consumed.  Today FoodShare focuses on self-help programs such as co-op buying systems, collective kitchens, and community gardens, which strengthen communities and help low-income individuals and at-risk youth gain training and employment.  For instance, FoodShare operates a program called the Good Food Box, which packs boxes of mainly local and organic food and delivers them to designated neighbourhood locations at reduced rates.  Among these and other activities, FoodShare advocates for better social assistance, creates jobs and runs job training, educates people on good nutrition, and supports the preservation of farmland.

There is also growing support for local food from various levels of government.

The province of Ontario has pledged to invest $56 million over the next four years to support local food initiatives, including $12 million through the Ontario Market Investment Fund to promote consumer awareness of the importance of Ontario food and $4 million to support farmers markets.

Through the British Columbia Agriculture Plan, the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands in BC intends to reallocate $5.6 million over the next three years from existing sources to develop a promotional program to brand BC food, increase extension services provided to farmers, and develop a “food miles” program that educates British Columbians about the distance their food travels.

The Agri-Food Market Development Program launched last year by the province of New Brunswick committed $400,000 to support the consumption of agri-foods produced in the province to help agri-food businesses increase capacity to improve visibility, attract more consumers, increase promotion and advertising, and develop strategic market opportunities.

Earlier this summer the Buy PEI Initiative was launched as part of a $500,000 allocation to support buying PEI foods as well as a regional Buy Atlantic strategy.

Even municipalities such as Prince Edward County in eastern Ontario, which has developed a “Harvestin’ the County” program with services such as the production of a locally grown food guide and map and a logo which distinguishes Prince Edward County produce, are supporting local food initiatives.

While these case studies showcase growing support for local food from both the non-governmental and governmental spheres, other case studies address the broader issue of city expansion into farmland.

In 2005 the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing established the Ontario Greenbelt by passing the Protecting the Greenbelt: Greenbelt Act.  The Greenbelt permanently protects 1.8 million acres of sensitive land, including farmland, from development. In 2008 criteria were passed to evaluate municipal requests to expand the Greenbelt in the interest of growing this protected land.

Between 1974 and 1976 the government of British Columbia established the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR). This zone of approximately 4.7 hectares makes agriculture a priority use and controls non-agricultural uses.

The concept of a ‘land trust’ or ‘conservation trust’ has been promoted as a way to safeguard agricultural land near cities in perpetuity. Land trusts are essentially organizations that protect ecologically or culturally significant areas that are not currently protected. Often this occurs when an organization purchases the land directly, but it can also occur through legally enforceable “easements” between landowners and a trust that specifies land-use on farm. The Ontario Farmland Trust (OFT), operated out of the University of Guelph, is one such example. Most land trusts in Canada, including the Nature Conservancy and the Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation, focus strictly on protecting natural areas.  The Ontario Farmland Trust is the only organization in Ontario solely devoted to protecting farmland. According to their website, OFT has so far secured properties in Brant County, Goderich and Wellington.

Initiatives to strengthen local food networks will continue to play a significant role in addressing food security concerns and implementing sustainable development.  In light of the unfolding global food crisis, there is a growing need for localized, self-sufficient economies, of which local production of food for local consumption is a vital component.  These case studies show how practical steps can and are being taken to implement sustainability, by taking a holistic approach that integrates social, ecological, and economic concerns.

Back to Local Food sub-theme page

Leave a comment on the above or tell us about your own research or case study, lessons learned, best practices or other personal experiences: