Near-Urban Agriculture
Prospects for Agriculture in the Toronto Region:
The Farmer Perspective
This study investigated the continuity and security of farms in the region surrounding Toronto. The authors talked to 64 farm operators about levels of investment, the introduction of new products, marketing, economics, the transfer of farms from one generation to another, the contribution farms make to local communities, and the impacts of urbanization, government policies, and global market forces.
Innovations in Near-Urban Agriculture:
Can farming persist in the urban shadow?
Through interviews with farmers and key informants, this study will attempt to gather valuable information on farming adaptations that have already occurred and assess what factors promote their viability.
Agriculture in the Central Zone, an Issues Paper
This paper surveys the current state of agriculture in the Toronto region and its contribution to the Ontario economy. Agriculture currently competes for land with urban development, recreational land uses, transportation corridors, and aggregate extraction, and thousands of acres of prime farmland are lost each year. Walton argues that maintaining agriculture means more than preserving land; it requires support for the industry as a whole, including tax reform, research funding, ways to resolve land use conflicts, public education, and measures that ensure long-term financial security for farmers.
The Economics of Locally Grown Food
Food Connects Us All: Sustainable Local Food in Southern Ontario
This paper aims to contribute to a broader understanding of food system dynamics in this province. It is intended as a backdrop for discussions on how Ontario could move toward a truly local sustainable food system through collaboration and the identification of key leverage points for food system change.
The New Food Economy in Toronto
Drawing upon research from a cluster and innovation systems perspective, we counter the argument that the food industry is a mature and dying industry and point to evidence of a vibrant, dynamic food sector that has made a substantial contribution to regional growth. Since the mid-1990s, the most dynamic component of the Toronto urban food economy has been the small- and medium-sized enterprises, comprised mainly of specialty, local, ethnic, and organic food-processing firms that are thriving in response to consumers’ demands for high-quality, local, fresh ethnic and fusion cuisine.
The “Good Food” Value Chain
The “Good Food” Value Chain research program involves communities in British Columbia in order to build capacity of their local food systems. A local food system refers to the entire food value chain from the farmer’s field to the dinner plate. This includes producers, marketing agencies, input industries, processors, retailers, farmers markets, and consumers.
Eat Fresh and Grow Jobs, Michigan
This report looks at how increased sales of fresh, local food may significantly boost employment and personal income.
Highlights of the Economic and Community Impact Assessment of Farmers Markets in B.C
Local Food: The case for re-localising Northern Ireland's food economy
This report has been compiled by a team following review of published material, detailed stakeholder consultation and completion of a town survey to collect data on the extent of local food sales in Northern Ireland. In common with the UK as a whole, farming in Northern Ireland (NI) is in crisis. Farmers are being told that they must change – however, the prevailing vision for change is based upon the underlying assumption that the only option available for promoting “a dynamic, integrated, innovative and profitable agri-food industry” in NI is to embrace the inevitability of globalisation and the continued expansion of the global food trade. This completely overlooks the growing interest in and support for the re-localisation of food economies that is emerging in the UK, including the strong support for “local food” expressed in the recent report of Sir Donald Curry’s Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food in England.
Branding BC Agriculture and Food Production
The purpose of this project was to facilitate a more coordinated focus across branding initiatives, to enhance effectiveness of branding and to increase the sales of BC agri-food products and services. To facilitate development of a plan, this project brought together a Steering Committee which included representatives of over 20 different organizations and initiatives involved in marketing BC agri-food products.
Consumers and Local Food
Consumers’ Views on Local Food
This focus-group study investigated shoppers’ beliefs and behaviors regarding local foods. Two of the four focus groups consisted of organic food shoppers. They were more committed to purchasing local foods and identified a much wider array of such foods than did the conventional shoppers. One group of conventional shoppers consisted of African-Americans, who tended to define “local” as a much larger geographic area than did the group of Caucasian conventional shoppers. The African-Americans were also less interested in local-food labels per se, despite being interested in the qualities associated with local foods: freshness, supporting local farmers, and developing personal relationships with food producers.
Locally Grown Food Initiatives
Homegrown Ontario
Homegrown Ontario is an alliance of Ontario Pork, the Ontario Veal Association and the Ontario Sheep Marketing Agency. Research from Canada’s leading survey-based marketing research firm, Ipsos Reid, clearly indicates that Ontario consumers want to support their local farmers while purchasing fresh, quality meat. By creating the Homegrown Ontario brand and logo, the three associations are making it easy for consumers to do just that.
Local Food Plus
Local Food Plus (LFP) is an award winning non-profit organization that brings farmers and consumers to the table to share in the benefits of environmentally and socially responsible food production. We are committed to building and fostering local sustainable food systems by certifying farmers and processors and linking them with local purchasers.
Wine and Culinary Tourism in Ontario
The Ontario Culinary Tourism Strategy, launched in October 2005, is a 10-year plan to develop new, high-quality culinary tourism products and experiences that will attract more visitors to Ontario and contribute to the economic prosperity of communities across the province.
Savour Ontario Trade
Ontario Culinary Tourism website - your virtual farm to fork and vine to wine business collaboration network. The information you exchange through this site will help your organization while building momentum for culinary tourism in Ontario. If your organization is located in Ontario and has an interest in showcasing regional Ontario food and drink through tourism, you are in the right place.
Food Down the Road
Food Down the Road, refers to food that is grown close to home. We consider “local food” to be grown within a 100 km area of the eater. It also refers to the future. We are looking down the road toward a sustainable Kingston and countryside where all citizens can enjoy healthy food.
Food Miles
Ontario's Food Print
In the course of researching the role of the Terminal, it became clear to us that relatively little is known about how fruit and vegetables get from where they are grown to our local stores. Thanks to the ready availability of imported fruit and vegetables, the concept of seasonal fruit no longer resonates with the general public, particularly young children who have grown up thinking that food comes from their local supermarket. Read this study of Toronto’s Food Terminal by the Urban Institute
Farmers Weekly Food Miles Campaign (UK)
Farmers Weekly's campaign ran in 2006. Although the main activities have finished, please use this site for information about the campaign and about food miles in general.
100 Mile Diet
When the average North American sits down to eat, each ingredient has typically travelled at least 1,500 miles—call it “the SUV diet.” On the first day of spring, 2005, Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon chose to confront this unsettling statistic with a simple experiment. For one year, they would buy or gather their food and drink from within 100 miles of their apartment in Vancouver, British Columbia. Use this site for more information.
Food Miles: Environmental Implications of Food Imports
Waterloo Region in Ontario has documented the average distances travelled by imports of selected food items to Waterloo Region as well as the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with their transport. Imports of 58 commonly eaten foods travel an average of 4,497 km to Waterloo Region. Replacing all the studied food items with products of South-western Ontario would produce an annual reduction in GHG emissions of 49,485 tonnes, equivalent to taking 16,191 cars off our roads. See the environmental implications of food imports.
Checking the food odometer: Comparing food miles for local versus conventional produce sales to Iowa institutions
The Leopold Centre for Sustainable Agriculture in Iowa has compared food miles for local versus conventional produce sales to Iowa institutions. The average distance for locally grown produce to reach markets was 56 miles, while the conventional distance for the produce to reach those same points of sale was 1,494 miles, nearly 27 times further.
The Validity of Food Miles as an Indicator of Sustainable Development
UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has studied whether a practical and reliable indicator based on food miles can be developed, and whether this would be a valid indicator of progress towards the objectives of the UK government’s Sustainable Farming and Food Strategy and the proposed Food Industry Sustainability Strategy. The study found that food transport has been increasing steadily over the last few decades. This has direct negative impacts on sustainability (congestion, accidents, road maintenance costs, greenhouse gas emissions, noise and air pollution).
Food Security
Community Food Security – Position of Dietitians of Canada
Community Food Security (CFS) exists when all community residents obtain a safe, personally acceptable, nutritious diet through a sustainable food system that maximizes healthy choices, community self-reliance, and equal access for everyone.
For more information, please contact:
Janet Horner
Coordinator, GTA AAC Agriculture Action Committee
519-925-5975
janet@whitfieldfarms.com